


Each Touch

by Ayrivynne



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 45,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23888044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayrivynne/pseuds/Ayrivynne
Summary: Dave and John have been friends for 4 years now, John still oblivious to the other's affection leads Dave to try his hardest even if the other claims he's heterosexual. When time passes and John starts to contemplate his current life, drama starts to boil up messing with his head and heart.
Relationships: John Egbert/Dave Strider
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	1. Start of a Bromance

**Author's Note:**

> This has been published to my Wattpad and Fanfiction account a long time ago. I have decided to also move it onto AO3 because at the time of me writing it, I didn't have an AO3 account. The writing is outdated, but a lot of people still seem to enjoy it.

It was a Saturday; March 18th, 2005 to be exact. Families gathered in a stadium to cheer on their school's team for Nationals; a young boy around the age of 9 smiled as he cheered for his, soon to be, school's soccer team, The Spades. His father smiled as he sat next to him, camera in hand as he snapped pictures of his son. The boy had thick black hair and eyes shining bright like sapphires in the sun's rays; he also had a smile that could kill, not to mention that his buckteeth made it even more affective. He was like an angel; he was an angel. And his name is John Egbert.

Coming down the lane were what seemed like father and son. They both wore pointed shades, had light blond hair (seeming almost white), and had a particular aura around them as they passed multiple families. Both of them sat next to the Egbert pair silently, the younger of the two watching the game as the other glanced at his phone. Another payment, nothing new.

"PASS IT TO RILEY!" shouted John as he frantically stood up and watched.

"That'd be a bad move." commented the younger blond.

John turned around and spotted the other; he was around John's age, but he seemed so...Cool, like one of those older kids he's seen around his school sometimes. The blond walked over to where John was and pointed to the player with the ball, then at a player on the opposing team.

"If they pass it to that dude, he'd totally go in for a steal." he told him, "So the best play is to turn and pass it to that dude, making so the attention is at him. And if they play it right he can pass it to number 6 who then can either play it safe and move it onto number 12 or take the chance and go for a goal."

Blue eyes stared at the other with awe as he took in what he said. He -is- cool! The way he said that game tactic so smoothly and on the spot is nothing he could ever do. The blond scanned the field and the players as he hatched up another tactic as the formation changed.

"That was so cool." said John.

"That? It's just some picking out and interpretation." said he.

"Going against your own school team?" quirked the older blond as he leaned against the railing.

"It's ironic is it not?"

"Got me there little bro."

The other one was just as cool as the boy he was just speaking too. It must run in the family doesn't it? Just imagine how cool their dad must be, speaking of dads...

"Looks like you've made a friend John."

A cool dude like him friends with John? He can only wish. The young boy smiled and laughed softly as he turned to face his dad. Mr. Egbert had mildly tame black hair under his white fedora, shining blue eyes just as John, a black tie over his white collar shirt, a pair of white pants with black shoes on his lower torso, but a pipe was missing from his lips.

"Yeah, best bros." said the older blond pushing the two kids together, "Look at them, already inseparable."

"Bro-"

"See, he's asking if he can sleepover~"

"BRO!-"

"Yes Dave?"

So that was his name, Dave. It suited him well. John's dad smiled and set a hand on his son's shoulder, he looked up and blinked a few times, he knew this action. And he couldn't be more happier.

"Well my Johnathan will be happy to befriend your David." he said looking into Bro's shades.

"Cool." said he looking down at the two, "What do you say?"

"Sure." shrugged Dave looking over at John.

His killer smile crawled on his face as he nodded eagerly and excitedly. This has to be the greatest day of his life!

**TIMESKIP ~1 year **

"John! You have a package!"

He blinked and looked down the stairs. A package? From who? And on a day such as today. John walked down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen where his father usually is. It better not be an excuse to give him a cake, as much as he appreciates it.

"A package?" he said as he went in.

"Looks like it's from David. It came on time too." he said handing him a red box.

"From Dave?" he questioned as he held it in his arms, a cupcake was set upon it, "Dad!"

He chuckles and turns to get the cake batter ready. John rolled his eyes and went back upstairs with the gift and cupcake in hand; his dad spoiled him with sweets way too much, but never mind that he got a gift from Dave, and on his birthday!

"I wonder what he got me." he said as he set both items on his bed.

Opening the box, he pulled out a stuffed rabbit, it was not in the best condition and made him question as to why. He started at it for a minute before it processed through. IT'S THE STUFFED RABBIT FROM CON AIR! John grinned and squirmed as he had a moment. Laughing softly, he looked back at the box and saw something else. At the bottom lay a letter written in red ink, Dave gave him a letter too. Picking it up, he read it.

so hey

since its your bday i had to get you back for the sick memorabilia you got me so i got you this godawful thing and now i just know youre standing there flipping your shit over it so youre welcome.

its the actual gross bunny in the movie so that means nick cage actually grubbed it up with his clownish no talent fingers. i would suggest you put it somewhere and display it ironically but i know youre dead serious about this ridiculous shit so youll probably sleep with the damn thing and nibble its ear and stuff.

but the weird thing is thats whats cool about you. youre this naive guy like pinocchio tumbled ass backwards off the turnip truck and started liking ghostbusters. then the fairy godmother kissed your nose or some shit and you turned out to be not made of wood and also pretty cool to talk to. one day your gooberish ways are gonna land you in a jam and i know im going to have to get you off the hook but its cool i got your back bro.

then we'll meet and hug bump and get each others filthy wife beaters that much filthier so yeah

peace dawg

tg

He smiled and snickered; Dave signed with his Chumhandle abbreviation. Is that suppose to be ironic? Irony, he found out, is like his game other than his sick beats. It matched his cool kid demeanor though, which was pretty cool. Was that ironic as well?

John sat on his bed and stared at the gift, how Dave ever got this, he'd have to ask him when he had the chance, but in the meanwhile this is surely the best gift ever.

Looks like this long distance friendship is going to workout well.


	2. Just another year

The morning of October 15th, 2009 was a calm one. It starts out with a young teen groaning out of bed, going to the bathroom to get ready, then heading downstairs for breakfast and to grab his lunch for that day. Fixing his glasses, he waved to his dad and said a goodbye to his Nanna's urns before walking out the door to the bus stop. He was a Freshman at Airess High School, a public school of course, and a joint school with his middle school, Ecters Middle School. Arriving at the bus stop, he saw a fellow friend already there and huddled up in a sweater.

"Good Morning Terezi." he said as he stood besides her.

She turned her head to the sound of his voice, her red shades meeting his blue eyes. A grin spread across her face as she gave a wave. The sandy brown haired girl was blind, not completely though, the red color of the shades help her with the very little vision she still has. What happened is an incident meant to be told for another time. As for the relation of the two, John, being the nice person he is, offered his help to her when they met back last year. They've been friends ever since, though nothing has really progressed with them; they stayed on a point on a friendship meter and that's where they're bound to stay.

"Good Morning John." she said back, "It's a pie this time? Apple am I correct?"

John smiled and nodded; her sense of smell is practically how she sees most of the time now, it's really interesting on how the human nose can strengthen the smell sense, but as seeing she doesn't have her complete vision, it's reasonable. The brunette would always guess what dessert his father had made for him daily, and she was always right. As they spoke, the bus came along, the students boarding the bus taking their usual seats. Surprisingly John and Terezi didn't sit with each other, Terezi went and sat with Nepeta Leijon, a proud fangirl as she calls herself. John sat with Aradia Megido, a girl who knew a friend of his and is pretty chill.

"Hello John, I suspect you woke up with a grunt." she said as she looked at him.

"You can tell?" he questioned.

"Why of course, your hair is more out of place than it usually is." she replied.

He raised his hand to gently run through his hair; he actually used hair gel to make it stay in place, guess he was zoning out when he was applying it in back at home. The teen laughed softly as he rubbed the back of his head, Aradia smiled and started up another conversation which lasted them the bus ride to school. He said a goodbye to her and ran off to find the person he's been waiting for all morning. Dave Strider.

Walking over to his locker to put his lunch away, footsteps echoed through the already loud hall. John fussed with his hair as his locker closed; there stood a blond, lean, shaded albino with a small smile on his face.

"Egderp."

"Oh, Dave."

"The one and only." he said as he leaned against the lockers.

The two met back at a school Nationals soccer game, Spades against the Hearts, four years ago. As being the ironic kid Dave is, he went along and spoke with John when he shouted at a player to pass the ball to another, giving him a little insight on why that'd be a bad move.

"Almost Halloween, you know what that means."

"Oh my god, no Dave."

"Yes John."

"We are not dressing up in those."

"But Bro got them for -us-"

Every year since the 7th grade, they'd dress up together for Halloween; last year Dave was Link and made John be Zelda; wig, dress, and all. This year though, Dave's brother is in charge in what they'd be this year, and Dave has been dropping hints to what they'd be all year. John soon found out though.

"I got a red one; I even had the courtesy to make Bro get a blue one for you." said Dave.

"Still! This is going to be more embarrassing than last year." groaned John as he slumped against the lockers beside Dave.

"You liked being carried like that, admit it."

"I did not!"

The two teased each other to no end whenever either one starts and it's completely mutual; they get their kicks from it. Dave smiled and leaned against John, their shoulders pushing on the other while his blond bangs moved to cover his shades. The other looked over at Dave and gave out a sigh, rolling his eyes in the process.

"Alright come on Dave, let's get to class."

"We'll go to yours first." said Dave standing back up straight on his feet, "We always go to mine."

"Yeah, because it's closer." chuckled John as he straightened up.

They then began to walk down the hall to make it to John's first hour. The two boys were inseparable, even if they did hang out with other people, they always found some time in for each other, whether it was in person or electronically. Their hands brushed against each other's as they walked and talked, the halls are crowded so it made sense, but each small touch sent jolts of electricity through Dave.

"I'm not wearing it to school Dave."

"C'mon John, stop being a baby." said Dave, "I'm wearing it too."

"So, if you wear it I'm sure people aren't going to say anything, but me? A big no."

"I'm going to go over to your house and make you put it on. I'll even strip you myself if I have too."

"Ew nooo."

"Yep, I will. I'm not bluffing."

As they continued their little tease session from before, they arrived at the black haired teen's class. Dave turned to face John with a small smirk on his features; taking John's hand, he placed a chaste kiss on the other's knuckles.

"See you later my Heir." the blond said before walking away.

John pouted and walked into his class where he got stares. It was nothing new; Dave's displays of affection is nothing new to him. "It's all for irony." quoted Dave.

"Why don't you two kiss already." grumbled a light tanned figure raising its head.

"I already told you Karkat." said John, "I'm-"

"Not a homosexual, we get it." said Karkat, "Highly doubt it though."

The bespectacled teen laughed softly as he took a seat in front of him, "It's just another year Karkat. Nothing new."


	3. Dance Set Up

A week of pestering John about their Halloween costumes have been both entertaining and a bit frustrating, the boy really is a 'good boy' isn't he? Dave got his phone out and texted John if they were meeting in front of the library today; they always did, but it was always good to check in. His bag was on the ground with a pillar supporting it upright, John should be coming downstairs soon. He pursed his lips as he leaned against the pillar just as his bag is, the crowds of people passing him left and right.

"I'm here Dave!" shouted John as he ran up to him, "Sorry, Ms. Fran lost track of time."

"Whatever, you came." he said, "Now then, headed home?"

"Actually no, I'm going to help set up the Halloween Dance." said John, "Hey you should come! Pretty sure people will get kicks out of your ironic plans."

Dave chuckled; John looked up to him so dearly, it's cute. He was like an idol to the kid, which is very flattering if he did say so himself. Picking up his bag, he slung it around his shoulder and raised a hand. John smiled and began to walk, knowing that the blond was tagging along. They've been friends long enough to have a few signals and code words between them, though as to reading each other, they weren't there just yet.

"It's upstairs, come."

"Aye that." replied Dave as he followed the other.

The halls were starting to empty out as everyone went to their buses, their respective clubs or just went home one way or another. Dave picked up his pace as he went to walk next to John, their footsteps slowly syncing with each other's as they walked up the set of stairs and down the hall to the designated room. Once there, they took a seat near the middle of the room. Other kids were there already as well, happy to help with the set up; this sure is going to be interesting. The bell rang indicating the end of school hours and the beginning of school activities.

"I'm so glad we can have great students to help us set up for our annual Halloween Dance. I'm Hamila , the one "in charge" this year, and this is Karrie, a kind of...substitute for me if I'm not here." said a brunette, "So let's get to business as we only have a little over a week until the dance."

She and Karrie went and wrote down a list of roles on the white board while the other students watched or spoke to their friends quietly until the ladies were done. Dave nudged John and leaned over to tell him something, John looked over at Dave and leaned down to meet him halfway.

"So then, what do we do?"

"They haven't even told us yet." whispered John.

"Still."

"So here's the list, please come up and write your name under the role you want to be in and see Karrie once you do." said Hamila.

With a second break, the kids started to get up to walk to the board; John smiled and pulled Dave up to drag him over to the board. With a few students in front of them, the two friends looked and spoke on what to work on. They did have quite a list to choose from, so whatever they get won't be a problem.

"How about Banners?" questioned John.

"Nah, let's do the music." said Dave.

John rolled his eyes, "I know you're going to slip your 'sick beats' in during the mix."

"I would never!" gasped Dave as he held his chest.

He laughed softly as they took a step up; John's laugh was like an assault rifle, shooting at him with no mercy. Everything about this kid was so adorable, like no joke, he could squeeze John and out would come flowers and rainbows and shitty unicorns. Dave glanced back up at the board and thought, what could they do though?

"Hey, how about the candy?" asked Dave.

"You're going to eat it all."

"And you won't?"

"Dave my life is already covered in enough sweets."

"Right..." trailed Dave, "Then how about we do the part where we decorate the spot light dance."

Looking back at the albino, John raised an eyebrow. The spotlight dance. Well it is a part of decoration and beats having to decorate the whole stage. He smiled and nodded, showing Dave that it was an acceptable option. Dave smiled and went up to write his name up on the board, John doing the same after.

"Cool...I'm still going to get my sick beats to play though."

"I wanna see you try." grinned John as he walked with Dave over to Karrie.

Karrie handed them an outlay of the gym and other small supplies to help them get the spotlight dance planned so it can be set up when it's time. John took the papers and headed out the door to get to the gym; Dave followed along, a plan hatching in his mind as they walked down the stairs. As much as John denies being a homosexual, Dave still shows his affections towards the other anyways, using irony as an excuse. And it's been working well so far, John doesn't suspect a thing...Or he's just that oblivious.

"So since it's Halloween, I think it should be both haunting, yet dazzling. To make it a special moment you know." said John as he looked back at Dave.

"Yeah, sounds cool. We going to be using balloons?" asked Dave.

"I think that idea is overused. Maybe we can do like a forest or a graveyard."

"Graveyard all the way dude, totally romantic for a special moment."

"Ironic too?"

"Ironic too."

John beamed, it was nice to get irony right, the praises he gets from Dave satisfies his friendship with him. It was a feeling of happiness, but it also felt like something more. Something he couldn't figure out, but that was the least of his problems; they needed to focus on their job for the dance. Dave smiled softly as the other gave him a smile, he can never get over that smile. The different variations of that smile is fascinating, how a smile can be so different.

The two entered the gym and went over to the obvious center, they had a limited space to set up the spotlight dance, but that'd be fine. Dave scaled their area as John started to sketch out a draft of what their graveyard would look like, both spent their time planning and discussing on how to set everything up. Dave making suggestions; John changing and adjusting things as time passed by; they had a week left though, so they took constant breaks.

"Who do you think will win the costume contest?" asked John.

"I don't fucking know." replied Dave, "But that computer dude could do well with his Heterochromia iridium eyes if he uses it to his advantage."

"True, but I think Aradia has a chance."

"That chick you sit with on the bus? Dude you have a crush?"

"W-What, no!" stuttered John, "I just think she does, after all she can get pretty scary if she wants too so I've heard."

"Well I also think Gamzee has a chance to win too." said Dave.

John got up to stretch, his legs starting to fall asleep. The talk about the costume contest did relate to what they're doing though, whoever wins gets each other's last dance of the night in the spotlight, so it really is suppose to be a special moment, romantic even. Dave stood up along with John, stretching out his arms and legs, it was about time they do something before they had to leave. And he knew just what to do.

"John." said Dave.

"Yeah?"

"If we're going to do a graveyard with graves and shit, we gotta make sure they're able to dance."

"Oh...Right." trailed John as he looked down at the paper.

There were graves scattered around here and there with a few trees allowing webs to be strewn along the air. They were planning on a smoke machine, but discarded the idea as they were going to set a few bones on the ground and an accident would not be good. Dave walked over to John and picked up the papers, setting it aside before walking back over to John.

"Maybe we should test out the area before we go." said Dave as he looked down at him.

"Like dance? Here?" asked John as he looked over at the other students indulged in their planning and mental decor.

"Yeah dude, no one's gonna talk." he said as he pulled John closer, an arm on the other's waist.

"But-"

"It's only for a few minutes, plus it'll help us with mapping and readjustments."

He was right, testing out the area by dancing will help with mapping and readjustments, but dancing...Slow dancing here in front of people and with Dave! This was going to be so embarrassing! John stuttered quietly as Dave wrapped his other arm around his waist, a smile peering through.

"Come on, you're already trapped." chuckled Dave, "Just put your arms around my neck and we'll take baby steps...Just don't step on my feet."

"No promises." he managed to say back as he did as told.

They were so close together, their bodies just barely pressing against each other. Dave's heartbeat picked up its pace as he slowly took a step back; John's left foot following through. Soon they were slowly moving around the area they were working on. As they danced, their eyes met; John looked to the side as he felt his blood rise to his cheeks.

"It's rude to not look at your partner while dancing." said Dave as he tried to looked at John's face.

"But-"

He froze as he felt a pair of lips connect with his cheek and his hips released free. John looked up at Dave who had a grin on his face, soft laughing escaping from his lips. The lips that kissed his cheek. The blue eyed teen shook his head as he stared down at the floor, letting a blush take over. Dave ruffled John's head as he went to pick up his bag.

"Nevermind, we're done anyways. Let's go."

"Y-Yeah." stuttered John as he went to grab his bag.

Dave looked at him and his grin softened to a smile, he wasn't ready to confess just yet. No, they needed more time before things can take a step up, and even if it didn't they'd still be best bros...

Right?


	4. It's all for Irony

"I sense there to be something wrong." said Aradia as she looked at John who was still dazed by Dave's actions the previous day.

"Ah- Not so wrong...Just unexpected." replied John as he rubbed his eyes to snap out of it.

The pale teen leaned back in her seat as she wondered what could be bothering John, certainly he had no enemies that she knows of, even Vriska is on his good side. He has a fairly good lifesyle as far as she could tell; a best friend, good father, good grades. A love interest though, that's something that was missing, though is it really mandatory? People can get on with life without a person of romantic interest, so maybe John can...?

"Unexpected, pray tell?" she questioned.

"Ahh..." he trailed as he tried to think of a way out of this, telling anyone that he's still thinking about the kiss Dave gave him would be too embarrassing, "Just...Just a little prank pulled on me. Didn't expect it to hit me so hard and for so long."

"A prank huh, well better get them back." chuckled Aradia.

Yeah...Yeah a prank, a good ol' prank should help him get back in order. Now what to pull? There wasn't any good pranks to pull when you've decided to pull one when all your stuff is at home. John sighed as he leaned back in his seat, he really wanted to prank Dave now; it's been a while since he did a prank on the cool kid. His train of thought wandered as the ride to school continued, Aradia looking out the window recollecting her own thoughts.

"Have a good day John." waved the Asian girl as she walked off once they were at school.

"You too!" beamed John as he went down his usual route to his locker.

John squeezed through the crowd of people to get to his locker, gossip and stories thrown about in which John took note of. You never know when you might need the information. He opened his locker and set his lunch in with a few other papers and folders, grabbing out a few in replace of them in the process. The paper which held the sketch of the graveyard slipped out of the locker, floating out only to be stepped on by a red colored converse.

"Drop something." said the voice as he picked it up.

"Huh? Oh- I didn't know it slipped out." said John, "Thanks Dave. If I would have lost this we'd be in trouble."

"Fuck ton of trouble."

As usual, they stayed by the lockers and chatted. The kiss on the cheek faded back into John head and he tripped over his thoughts, he forgot about it! Dave was going on with his business as if nothing happened though, so why was he so worked up, it should be nothing to him as well.

"L-Let's get to class, we're going to yours." said John as he started to walk.

Dave arched and eyebrow but shrugged, going on to catch up with John. Yesterday's kiss was still on his mind as well, a small regret tingling at the back of his mind. Was it too soon to go for the cheek? Maybe he should have stuck to the knuckles. Scenarios rolled out throughout his head as he bit his lower lip subconciously, what if one of those came true? What would happen to their friendship?

"Dave?"

Snapping back to reality, he shook his head as he looked at John who was in front of his first hour classroom. The other was looking up with him with those doe blue eyes magnified by his black framed glasses, his buck teeth peaking through his pale pink lips. It's so tempting to steal a kiss right now, but he held back.

"Yeah?"

"...Have a good day." said John as he went in for a hug, standing on his toes to rest his head on the other's shoulder.

He stood there, his eyes widening as he slowly hugged back, arms wrapping around him loosely. The hug was short, but before John pulled back he placed a small kiss on the nape of Dave's neck. The black haired teen gave a quick smile before dashing off to his own class, leaving a blushing, struck Dave to watch him turn the corner. The albino rose his hand to touch where he had been kissed and walked into his classroom.

John slapped himself mentally as he rushed over to his first hour class; as part of a prank payback he went ahead and kissed Dave's neck? Are you kidding me? That's the first think he came up with, a kiss on the neck, what kind of a prank is that?

"You look even worst than yesterday. Asshole not give you your daily kiss?"

"N-No." said John replying to Karkat's morning greet, "But about kisses..."

"Shit did you guys literally kiss?" he said sitting up.

"I wasn't going to say that!" he exclaimed, "I was going to say that as a prank for what happened yesterday, I went ahead and kissed his neck."

Karkat stared at the other, John wasn't much of a romantic such as himself and right now this totally shows how idiotic he is with his previous choice of actions. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his naturally messy caramel hair, this was going to be a long conversation.

"Look John, you kissed his neck for whatever happened yesterday. Just why?" he asked.

"I... don't know, I was going to prank him, but I couldn't think how I could." explained John, "The kiss...It was...It wasn't there in my mind before, it just happened. Like a Prankster's Gambit."

"...Prankster's Gambit?" trailed Karkat as he squinted his eyes at John.

"Yeah."

Shaking his head, Karkat spoke once again, "Well whatever caused you to do this is obviously telling you things- And don't ask what because I'm not telling you."

A set pout formed on John's lips as he crossed his arms, this was one of Karkat's 'RomCom chances' again. The dude was obsessed with RomComs just as much as he was obsessed with Pranks and what Dave deems 'Bad Movies.' Con Air is a great movie even after all these years.

"You're saying that I might be crushing on Dave." said John.

"I didn't say that."

"But you were implying it, I know it."

"Whatever floats your boat."

The blue eyed teen sat in his seat and pondered over his situation. It's just a prank, a harmless prank. He did last minute, unplanned pranks all the time, how can this be any different? This was on instinct for sure, it ran in the family. The warning bell rang and the hall upped its volume, John leaned over his desk to quickly reassure himself before class started. "It's all for irony." quoted Dave in his head. That simple statement always made things seem platonic. And the illusion always worked.


	5. Creativity Stucks

The soft noises of paper rustling, cardboard moving and other crafts supplies in motion filled the bedroom with movie posters hanging around on the white walls. If not for the other colored items, the room would be a blank white canvas. A fair colored arm reached over to grab the black marker from the albino's side, needing to write a few words on the now grey papered covered cardboard.

"What should I write on this one Dave?" asked the bespectacled teen.

"Died a cool guy." replied Dave shortly after.

"No~" chuckled John, "Something...Memorable."

"Who says showing you died a cool guy isn't memorable?" said Dave as he glued on some grey paper on a flat piece of cardboard.

John paused and though about it for a second, Dave was kind of right he guessed, there was no rule a headstone can say ' Died a cool guy. ' And they already had a headstone that had 'R.I.P'

"Well I guess you're right, but it's too casual. Something more formal will be better."

Dave puckered his lips as he looked over at John, "Sorry dude, formality is something I can't do."

John sighed as he thought of something to write down, what would be appropriate though? Something about life? About themselves as a person? What is he thinking, this is a fake headstone.

"I'll just put...A loving son, father and husband." said John as he uncapped the marker.

"Cool." said Dave as he was preoccupied with his own headstone in progress in his hands. Soft rustles took over the air again as the two boys fell quiet, they has five days, if you include today, to finish their props before Friday's dance. They'll be finish in time if they don't procrastinate...Which will most likely happen as nobody hardly ever finishes a project within a day..

"Can you hand me the other part." said Dave as he pointed over to a long, thin piece of cardboard.

"Yeah." replied the other as he reached over to grab at it.

As his fingers got a grip on the cardboard, he lifted it up only to feel glue drip onto his forearm. He dropped the piece and stuck his tongue out, the object splattering more glue onto John.

"Nice work dude, I gave you one job and look where you got yourself." snickered the blond.

"It's not funny!" whined John as he looked for something to wipe the glue off.

"Dude it's glue, ain't going to hurt ya." said Dave as he leaned over and took the cardboard, "I needed glue on this thing anyway."

The blue eyed teen pouted as he stood up but slipped on the glue puddle as he took a few steps forward; he fell backwards onto Dave and barely missed the just made headstone.

"The fuck John-"

"Sorry! Looks like glue isn't as sticky as it's suppose to be." said John with a small giggle.

"That's a horrible pun...Can it even be called a pun?"

John sat back up, his palm covered in glue and grey paper. His feet knocking down some loose white paper from his nightstand. Dave supported himself with his elbows as he watch the beginning of the chaos happen.

"Warning, Hurricane John on the loose." commented Dave as he pushed John off if him.

"Oh I'm going to blow you away if you don't-"

Dave brought up his hands to slap on his cheeks as he gasped, "Oh no, he's threatening me. Whatever will he do to me."

The bucktoothed male huffed and grabbed the marker Dave had set down on the ground to make a mark on the blond's pale skin; he gasped as he looked at John, a smirk slowly crawling on his face as he grabbed his bottle on glue and poured it on John's shirt.

"Hey!"

"You marked me dude."

"You poured glue on me, how's that a fair trade for a mark from a marker!?"

Before Dave could answer, John made another mark on Dave's face then scrambled to get up. Dave gave out small chuckles before getting up with the bottle of glue and followed John around the room; the black haired teen gathered up several markers and some glitter bottles he found on his writing desk.

For the next few minutes, a war was ongoing between the two friends. Dave was covered in black marks and multi colored glitter; John was covered in glue, glitter, paper and other various things that stuck to him during the riot.

"Call forfeit?" panted Dave.

"No...I call truce." said John leaning against a wall.

"For now." smiled Dave, "I'm getting you back some time."

With a minute of silence, the two broke out into laughter; they really went off task for a silly little war. Dave flicked John's nose, and John punched Dave's arm; the mess around the room was disastrous because of the two.

"We did a number huh." John said as he looked around his room.

"Nooo, it's clean as fuck." replied Dave.

"Very funny." said John as he rolled his eyes.

"You started it." said Dave as he poked the others chest, glue stringing from the cloth to Dave's finger, "But seriously, we should clean up before the glue sets if it hasn't already."

John looked down at his clothes and chuckled; Dave smiled and slapped him on the back, splattering the still wet glue and getting it all over his hand. The blue eyed male gave a small shriek and perked up when he felt the sudden pressure to his back.

"Slapbox." commented Dave.

"Not cool." Dave tittered and leaned down, resting their foreheads together; their eyewear clinking together once they made contact. John glared up at Dave, his cheeks puffed out.

"Soo intimidating."

"Oh don't use that tone-"

The albino stuck his tongue out and placed a finger on John's lip to quiet him, "Let's clean you up already.


	6. Soo Short

It was finally the day before Halloween and the day of Halloween dance for Airess High. It's going to be a long day, especially for a certain 14 year old boy; John cried internally as he walked to his bus stop, his hands fiddling with his costume Dave and he are wearing for the holiday, lucky for him he didn't have to go anything ridiculous with his hair. Black flats stepped along the road as he braced himself for the stared he knew he was going to get.

"I smell chocolate cookies~" cooed Terezi as she turned to face John, "Oh... I see alotta blue and white on you."

He silently thanked that she couldn't see him in this outfit clearly. John chuckled nervously as he went to stand next to her; Terezi tilted her head as she continued to look at John.

"Really? I guess I didn't realize it." replied John.

"You didn't realize you were putting on shorts?"

"Yeah! Shorts! I was in a hurry, didn't want to miss the bus."

As soon as the word bus escaped his lips, the vehicle turnt the corner coming to pick them up. They entered the bus and took their seats, Aradia laughing when she saw John.

"Great outfit John." she laughed.

"It's not funny!" he groaned as he adjusted himself in his seat.

"But it shows off some parts of you really well~"

He crossed his almost bare legs; the socks just coming up to his knees. Aradia patted John on his shoulder and smiled, the outfit did show him off though. Maybe too much... No it was perfect.

When they got to school, John scurried over to his locker as fast as he could, careful not to reveal himself too much. His cheeks were pink when he got to his locker, the embarrassment was too much for him. He opened his locker and switched out papers and a few other things before there were two knocks on his locker.

"Knock, knock, open up. The sexy police are here to take you under arrest."

John closed his locker and looked at Dave who was wearing the same exact outfit as him, but red. His pale skin contrasted against the bright red fabric adorning his figure. Red. The color seemed to suit him well didn't it?

"Dave I can't believe you made me wear this." whined John.

"With panties dude, don't forget the panties." said Dave giving a thumbs up.

"I don't even know how you got the correct size for me, and I'm not going to ask." said John, "But Dave...Why the panties?"

"Because it's part of the outfit, we can't leave that out...Plus it was Bro who got them, not me."

The shorter of the two frowned as he pulled down the blue skirt that revealed too much to his liking. Dave smiled as he looked over John, this was a very good idea. Like very.

"Don't be like that, flaunt it John. Flaunt it."

"Flaunt this? No way! You do it!"

"I already am." said Dave placing a hand on his hip, "And it's too much to handle isn't it? Of course it is."

John giggled as he saw the sass Dave suddenly had; confidence was a good trait Dave had wasn't it? He wishes he had that much confidence to do the things Dave did, but alas he didn't. Plus if he did had that much confidence, he couldn't imagine the things he'd do.

"Total sass Dave."

"The sassiest."

"I think Dirk has more sass though."

"What? No way!"

"Yes way."

Dave crossed his arms as his weight was shifted to the left side of him, a small pout formed on his lips as he stared at John. The blue eyed teen smiled as he turned to walk to Dave's first hour.

"Just come on Dave, we're going early." said John.

After John walked Dave to his first hour, he went to his own first hour where he got a...Reaction from Karkat. Let's just say it involved a lot of laughing, shouting and mutual insults, but look at who's talking, the one dressed as a crab. From there on, his day went as normal as it could be with him in a school girl uniform.

_-TIMESKIP-_

"And the winners for this year's costume contest are..." trailed a peppy half cat, half human student, "LATULA PYROPE AND GAMZEE MAKARA! What a lovely purr~ Oh- but what a shame that they get each other's last dance, Latula has a boyfriend."

Out in the crowd, the light brunet, Mituna Captor, was grinning and hugging the other sandy brunette, Latula Pyrope. She was, similar to the announcer, a half breed of a creature, a dragon to be exact. Teal and red colored wings hung from her back as her shimmering tail trailed behind her decorated with orange spikes. Shades glowing red for intimidation with nails long and sharpen.

"You won Tula~ You won~" gushed Mituna as he buried his face in her neck.

"Yes I did win~" she replied back happily, "And you know, I don't mind having the last dance with Gamzee."

"Nah, it's alright sis. You got there a motherfucker who loves you." said Gamzee.

He wore a black and purple outfit. A black collar shirt stained with dark red splatters, purple diamonds on the pants, two clubs in his hands dripped in fake blood, and boots black with a two inch pump. His hair was messier than usual and his face was covered in white paint, it smeared across his face mixing in with the few splats of red.

"Well~ have we done exceptions in past years?" asked the announcer as she looked over at her partner who was dressed as a skeleton, "...Alright~ looks like a little lucky kitten is going to have her last dance with Gamzee. And she is~...Aradia Megido!"

The said person looked up, her face was hidden under her black hood connected to the robe she was wearing. Her eyes were pure black and were sunken in, black painted lips dribbled with red; the color contrasted with her powered pale face made her appear dead. A scythe was in her hand, lathered with blood.

"Me?"

"Yeah sis, looks like it's you and me tonight." grinned Gamzee as he approached her.

While all of this happened, if you look at the wall farthest from the food table you'll find what looks like two girls in uniform. One in red and the other in blue.

"Dave wearing this to school was bad, but know knowing almost the whole school is here is worst." said John.

"What did I say? Flaunt it." said Dave as he leaned against the wall next to him.

"Well I just can't, it's embarrassing."

Dave sighed as he looked at John, "Thought that'd be the case, so I brought a plan B."

"REALLY!" exclaimed John as soon as he heard Dave.

The blond nodded as he stood back up straight to lead John over to the gym's entrance to go to his locker where it was stored at the moment. John smiled as he followed Dave; as brutal as he could be, Dave always took pity on him just a bit. The albino opened his locker and rummaged around in before pulling out a pair of cat ears; John tilted his head in confusion as Dave placed it upon his head.

"That's plan B and..." trailed Dave as he went back to look for something else, "This is plan C."

In his hands were a short blonde wig, a black hairband and black lipstick. The other stared at him, then down at the items confused as to what plan C was suppose to be.

"And plan C is...?" he questioned.

"My half sister Rose."

"What- ew no. I'm not dressing up as your half sister." John said.

"Then it's either a school girl or a half cat, half human."

"How is this even fair in reducing the embarrassment?"

"It's not suppose to."

...Okay, never mind in the 'Dave has little mercy on him.' He has no mercy on him.

"Ehhh..." he groaned.

"Choose dude." John crossed his arms as he gave a pout,

"I'll stick with the school girl."

"Atta that." grinned Dave as he put the other options away.

Dave walked up behind John and wrapped his arm around him after shutting his locker; John tensed with the unwarned touch.

"Let's ditch this and go to your place, it's boring here." said Dave.


	7. Headaches

Fingers rubbed against the 14 year old's temple as he walked next to his friend; John frowned as he opened his eyes to see where he was going. With the trimester already at its last month, things have been crammed and stressful. Dave looked over at him and arched an eyebrow, sure things were weighing on everyone but you know, you gotta take it easy and slow. Relax yourself and take deep breaths. John surely wasn't doing any of that.  
"Dude, what's the matter?" asked Dave.

"I think I have a headache. It's been going on for a few days, but I'm not sick at all." replied John as he looked over at the other.

"Stress dude, it's stress."

They were walking over to John's place for a hang out session, but it looks like it was up to Dave to get John to lower his tensity. The blond placed a hand on John's back and gave it a firm pat.

"I got an idea, Let's hurry to your place."

"No, Let's just walk. My dad will probably be out of there if we keep at this pace." said John as he fixed his glasses resting upon his face.

Score.

"Whatever."

-Timeskip bc I don't know what to write for the time being.-

Keys jingle in John hands as he opened the door for the both of them; Dave walked in with John following soon after, closing and locking the door behind him after. Dave set his backpack next to the couch as he took a seat. The living room walls were a nice creme color, the fireplace made from rusty red bricks adorned with John's Nana's photo, her urns were right under the photo.

"C'mon John, Let's get this party started."

"Yeah, party." he chuckled as he set his own backpack down.

John sat next to the other and sighed as he took off his black framed glasses from his face; Dave glanced over at John who had his eyes close as his head hung back resting on the couch. John's blue eyes always amazed him whenever he saw them, with or without the prescribed glass in front of them.

"Trying to seduce me Egderp?"

"Wha-?"

"Take off your shirt."

"WHAT!?"

The albino scooted over to place his hand on the other's shirt to take it off; with his face heating up, John placed his hands over Dave's to stop them from pulling up his shirt any further. Looking up at Dave with blurry vision he spoke flustered.

"What are you doing Dave?!" exclaimed John.

"Helping you with that headache, duh."

"How is taking off my shirt suppose to help my headache?"

"Massages help." stated Dave, "Back massages."

His blue eyes stared at the shaded character with confused eyes before he looked away. The way Dave said it was so serious. A blond eyebrow arched up as he moved his hands up, John's shirt coming up along with the hands. The white shirt that was on the fair skinned body was now off and on the ground. "Now lay down." said Dave. "This is sooo weird," said John, "I don't thin-" "Lay down." whined Dave as he pushed him to lay on the couch. John rolled his eyes as he went and laid down on his stomach; Dave then got on top of him, his legs straddling John's thighs. It felt so weird to have someone on top of him, especially if it was someone such as Dave, but it was better than someone he didn't have a close bond with. That would be uncomfortable. "Now relax dude, this ain't going to work if your muscles are tense." said Dave as he placed his hands on John's shoulders. His hands were surprisingly warm. The blue eyed teen nodded and rested his head on his arms, eyes closed as he took a deep breath to help him relax; Dave then slowly began to add pressure to his back, moving his fingers around slowly. John let out a relieved breath as he felt Dave's fingers move around on his back. "Mn~" Dave quietly continued to massage John's back, rubbing in circles and hitting knots. While he was doing that, John was sure enjoying himself. Soft noises of relief and pleasure escaped his lips, affecting the one on top of him greatly. His eyes stayed closed as he moved in place time to time, it was only then when Dave cracked John's back when a loud moan escaped his throat. "Ah~!" gasped John as he arched his back. Dave's pale cheeks reddened as he continued to listen to John's pleasured noises as he added pressure to his back. This was a horrible idea after all, how was he not getting a boner?

"Stop the noises dude, making me uncomfortable." lied Dave.

"You're to blame. I never knew you could do massages, if I knew sooner I'd would have made you give me massages more often."

"Well you know now, is the offer still up?"

John paused as he thought of what to answer back. Dave giving him massages, oh he couldn't make him do that- what he said was just a joke...Was it? Dave leaned in over him as he waited for an answer.

"Well Egbert?" he whispered into his ear A shiver was sent down John's back at the soft voice that came from Dave's pink lips.

"I-It was a joke- you don't have to if you don't want to." replied John. "Oh, but what if I do?" he questions. "Well then I-I guess..." trailed John. Dave continued to move his hands along John's back, his finger running down his spine making John squirm. John's heart was pounding fast as Dave continued to leave small touches on his back. "Dave~" he mustered out. Oh how John said Dave's name made the blond almost go crazy. If he wasn't waiting patiently for the right time, he would have taken John right here, right now. "Yeah?" "You can stop." Dave got off of John and stood next to the couch while John sat up to put his shirt back on. John's face was red as he looked up at Dave who was looking down at him. It was silent for awhile before Dave went to grab his bag. "So...English..."

(Not the best chapter- but I wanted to post something)


	8. Cold Fun Time

There was a brief knock on the door as records turned on the table with flips switched on a machine with flickering lights. The sounds of drums and other various instruments stopped as a door opened; footsteps commenced down the hall to open the door. A pale hand reached out to the dull gold colored doorknob.

"Who the fu-"

"Happy Birthday Dave!" exclaimed the person that stood on the other side of the once closed door.

"...Oh." trailed the albino as he stared at the other through his black shades he got five years ago...Was it five? He lost count on how long they've been friends.

"Don't tell me that you forgot your own birthday." said the other.

"I'm just surprised you remembered John."

"That'd be rude of me to remember my best bro's birthday."

Dave smiled as he let John in the apartment, even after moving from Texas, he still lived in an apartment. It was like his habitat. John took off the winter coat he had on.

"Did you literally walk all the way over here just to tell me to have a happy birthday?" Dave asked him.

"Yeah, and I came here to take you out."

He froze in his path as he turned to look at the bespectacled teen. His heart jumped when he heard John say his recent sentence. Take him out...Like a date? A birthday date.

"Fancy me Egbert?" he said with a small smile.

"What- no like a hang out take out dude."

Of course.

"Pulling on your strings dude, but if you were taking me out like that, that'd be ironic."

"How so?" questioned John.

"Because we're best bros dude. Best bros taking each other out on dates, pretty ironic because girls usually do that y'know."

The dark haired male blinked a few times before nodding slowly. Dave was sure lucky John was dense in the head to process what he was saying...Or implying.

"I...Guess..."

"So where you taking me?" Dave asked as he went down the hall to his room with John following.

"That, Dave, is a surprise." he grinned.

Oh that grin. He knew too well what that one was. It was one of those grins telling him that this day was going to be filled with many more savoring moments. Plus it was cute as fuck too.

Dave threw on his coat, which John helped pick out when he moved to Washington State, and walked up to John who was waiting for him in the doorway in silence. A smile adorned John's features. His light pink cheeks still colored from the cold, eyes as blue as you can imagine, skin light, but fair in color.

"Come on Dave! We got a tight schedule." peeped John as he ran back to the living room to prop his coat back on his person.

"Now that you're full let's take it easy for awhile." smiled John as he took Dave's hand into his.

The blond didn't know what was causing his cheeks to burn red, the cold or the embarrassment mixing in with fluttery feeling in his stomach that was eating his insides out. John was way too touchy than normal, but he wasn't complaining. If only John was always like this.

"Take it easy? You're going to take this time to prank me aren't you?"

"Dave I am disappointed in the lack of trust you have in me." pouted John as he turned to look at the other.

"Well if I remember correctly you've pulled at least 60 some pranks on me for the past 5 years."

"4 years, our 5th is in 3 months, but that's besides the point, it's your birthday today. I dub this a prank free day."

An eyebrow arched on the blond's face, "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Irony not included."

The cold wind passed by them brushing their hair as Dave chuckled. The kid loved making him happy huh? If only John knew how happy he made Dave every waking second. Their feet crunched alongside of the sidewalk as they walked to wherever. If only Christmas lights were on and it was later than what it is now, things would seem like a real date.

"What else you got planned?"

"Oh you'll see, I think you'll like it." giggled John.

"Hey, no pranks."

"It's not a prank!"

"I'll take you on your word."

John pulled Dave along to an actually pretty big building. He opened the door for the both of them, letting Dave go in first. Expecting a warm gush of air to hit his face, he continued in but was confused when the temperature stayed oddly the same.

"What is this?" he asked John as the other caught up to him.

"A skating rink!" exclaimed John clapping his hands a few times with excitement, "It's not cold enough outside to skate, but of course you can always skate here."

The blue eyed teen walked in forward to get their skates while Dave slowly trailed behind. He didn't know how to skate, how is John expecting him to know how to skate?! He readjusted his coat as John turned around with their skates in hand.

"You're going to have a blast!"

"Yeah..."

They both walked over to where they could place their shoes safely away and sit down to slip on their skates. How the hell do you walk on these skinny ass things? John stood up without fault and turned to Dave.

"Ready?"

"As ready as a predator going to jump his prey." he muttered.

Dave got up with caution, legs trying to balance the body weight as best as it could. Depending on two thin pieces of metal to keep you up right was actually quite heart pounding.

"Hurry it up slowpoke~"

"I'm going as fast as I can, jeez I want to savour this moment."

His legs guided him to the edge of the rink where John was already on and moving. Damn John and his advantage in this. Pink lips pursed together as one foot slid onto the ice, the other following soon after.

"Fuck." Dave muttered under his breath as he held onto the wall for dear life.

"Dave you can't go anywhere if you're holding onto the wall like that."

"Give me a moment."

John giggled as he glided next to Dave, this sure was entertaining. The blond let go of the wall, his path curving off away from his safety. Heart beat picking up its pace as he started to panic, the feel of losing his balance shooting to his head.

"Op~ Caught you." cooed John as his arms wrapped around the other.

"I had it bro."

"No you didn't."

"I totally did."

He was totally wrong, Dave's legs were trembling. John had a feeling Dave didn't know how to skate, all the more reason to go through with the plan. Besides, he didn't know where else to go that didn't seem like...

"You don't know how to skate do you."

"How did you know that?" replied Dave as he rolled his eyes, obviously John couldn't see them though but rest assured he knew John could hear the sarcasm drip from his voice.

"I'll teach you, come."

The two separated from each other as John circled around Dave; Dave stood still, arms out as he tried to keep himself upright. Surprised he hasn't fallen on his ass yet. John held his arms out in front of him towards Dave.

"Now move your feet one at a time, like pushing yourself." instructed John, "Go as slow as you need to and remember to keep your balance."

Fogged breaths of air escaped from Dave's chapped lips as he did what John told him, he moved his right foot forward as he let his left foot dig into the ice to push. Slow progression was in motion as John waited patiently. It was like teaching a kid how to skate for the first time.

"That's it." he smiled.

God this is embarrassing. Dave's cheeks were bright red, not that they weren't already, as he moved his left foot forward. He was make gradual progress, inching towards John as the other people were minding their own business, or so they seemed like it. Dave can feel their stared and glances and it was making him uncomfortable.

"John just come and get me." said Dave quickly.

"No I know you can do it!" encouraged John.

"John no, just please come and get me."

"Dave you're coming over here yourself."

"John-"

"Dave-"

"Come get-"

"You're coming over hea-"

As the two were cutting each other off, the frantic movement of the blond helped push him closer towards the other. With a sharp move of an arm, Dave lost his footing and slip forward onto John who had only a split second to react. He caught Dave once again but was pushed back due to the unbalanced force thrown onto him. The two screamed as John tried to stand them both upright, and Dave frantically tried to get himself up.

"Stay still Dave!"

"How can I!? I'm falling here!"

With the two moving against each other, they slid around the rink before they finally had a tumble, John falling first out of the two. Dave followed through causing John to fall right down on his ass and down on his back.

"Ah!"

His sight was hazy as the bright lights of the indoor skating rink shown down on them both, Dave groaned as he went to prop himself up. That knocked the air out of him. John fixed his glasses as he sat himself up, Dave still atop of him.

"I told you to just come and get me, but no." said Dave as they met eye contact, "You just had to let me skate on my own."

"Because if you never do it on your own you'll never learn." responded John.

Dave mocked John as he poked at the others chest, John shaking his head as he smiled.

"Alright, alright." said John to stop Dave on his long mockery knowing that soon it'll go off topic as per usual, "Be thankful that I caught you in time."

"Yeah whatever, just get us up already people are staring."

Before John did any moving to get them both back on their feet, he leaned in and rested his forehead on the other's. Their eyeware clicking together like a whisper before spoken words were heard.

"Happy Birthday Dave."

\----

(Happy Birthday Dave! ^^ and Happy early Birthday Rose)


	9. Rink

A white door opened as a pair of red converse walked into the white tiled room. A red bag was thrown over to the couch set in the center as the owner of both the red converse and red bag walked up the stairs to a bedroom on the farthest end of the hall. Blond hair swept across their face as they entered the full room. Pictures hung about on strings with clothes pins keeping them up, wires scattered about on the floor as posters were plastered on the wall. A turn table was sitting on a desk along with few other music making instruments. This person sure had a hobby of the art and music department.

As he was walking over to his window which showed the busy streets of the city, there was a notification alert on his computer followed by soft music playing. He walked over to his computer and sat down before clicking the call button.

"Hello Dave, I hope I'm not intruding on anything." said a firm voice.

"Nah it's cool Rose, besides you know I just got home."

"Of course."

Rose. She had short blonde hair adorned with a black hairband, her eyes are a very particular purple color complimenting on her fair, pale skin. The sibling has a rather extensive vocabulary that she so often loves to whip out on people.

"So what may a Lalonde want to bask in the time of a Strider?" asked Dave

"Please Dave, you know it's is you who is enjoying my glorious presence." said Rose, "But I am here to, of course, wish my dear brother a belated birthday."

Ah their sibling connection. Quirky is it not? One would believe they had something going on at first glance. But alas a lie to you all, they are only siblings who have quite a good bond. More like one set of two in their family that have a good bond.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Aren't you jumpy today, don't you have something to tell me too?."

"Happy late birthday Rose." said Dave as he smiled softly.

"Now to answer your previous question. No, as always I am sending a gift and I presume you are sending me one as well."

"Yes, but please don't tell me it's a scarf or some type of clothing." groaned Dave.

The blonde chuckled, she has sent numerous amounts of clothing she had made herself for her brother. Though she knows he never wears it, as it contrasts with his red lifestyle, she can see every gift she has sent him for the past 6 years that's fabric related somewhere in his room. It's sweet that he doesn't throw it out.

"That's for you to find out David, but I will tell you my little gift will surely help you catch that Johnathan of yours."

Dave groaned silently; he knew he shouldn't have told Rose about John. Ever since that day, she's been poking at him about it, the teasings and suggestive comments. It'll never end until they get together.

"I never talk about Kanaya unless you bring her up, why you gotta bring up John every time we talk?"

"Because unlike me, you take too much into consideration than you like to think."

"That's because John is like a marshmallow, one stick in the fire pit and he's gone."

"Pull out quickly and he's all yours."

A small chuckle escaped from Rose's lips as Dave sighed and shook his head. Rose is always so confrontational, a trait she picked up from her father. And maybe too much influence from their mother.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"I can't believe half of the broken jumble of words you say."

"Hey, rap is a good way to-"

"Yes, yes I know. I've heard it 16 plus times already, no need to babble off topic."

Dave has a tendency to start talking about one thing and babble on and on about topics unrelated to what he started with. It's a habit. The said blond pouted as he adjusted his shades.

"And would you please take those off, I already know. You don't see me wearing them." Rose said.

"Nah sis, I can't even take them off for you." Dave said as a reply, "Looks like it's a Strider thing."

"If not even for me, how about John?"

A breath came out cold as if a blizzard broke into his room. John didn't know one of his two biggest secrets, and that could fuck things up if they get together. What would John think if he knew he was hiding it? What would his reaction be? Disgust? Repulsion? Distrust? Absolute hatred? The many possibilities that can end their friendship forever and only one to make it through.

"Dave Strider...Dave...Don't tell me you're lingering in your thoughts again, I tell you it's not good to do that so often." scolded the blonde as she snapped her fingers at her screen.

"What- oh no I wasn't. I was just-"

"Don't lie to me. Even if we have never met each other in person I know you well enough to look like I do."

From a late birthday greeting to Dave's friend zone problem, how fast it changed. The blond clicked his tongue as he laid back into his chair, he knew his sister was right. She was always right most of the time.

"Dave I know it'll be hard, but if I can do it you can too." smiled Rose.

"You don't know that."

"Like sister, like brother Dave." finished Rose as she ended the call and closed her laptop before Dave could answer.

"That went smoother than most conversations." said a voice from afar.

Her particular purple eyes looked up to the other female, "It's Dave, most conversations never go smooth."

The brunette chuckled as she shifted her position on the rolling office chair. Rose smiled as she set her laptop aside to fully face her.

Like sister, like brother.


	10. Belated

The first full batch of snow just came in a day ago, the weather not dropping to the singles just yet but it was considerately cold. A puff of black hair shook as the warm air from the fireplace hit him. John was inside in front of the fireplace as his father was making a ruckus in the kitchen, lucky for him Christmas just passed but the new year was coming very soon. Just as he was getting warm a knock on the door interrupted him.

"John! Open the door! Hurry up it's freezing out here!"

A grin crawled onto his face as he hurriedly got up to open Dave the door, the blond stood outside with his coat bundling him up tightly, a large sled was behind him. John tilted his head as he stared at the sled ignoring the cold air that was erasing the warm feeling from seconds ago. Dave stared at John soon following where his blue eyes lay.

"Like it?" he asked.

"Yeah, I haven't been on one since I was six." replied John seemingly breathless.

"Then get your jacket and let's go."

"But you were-"

"You wanna go sledding yeah? Then go get your damn jacket." interrupted Dave.

John pouted before dashing upstairs to grab his jacket, excitement surged through him as he grabbed the blue coat, ran down the stairs and out the door after his best friend. Today wasn't going to be a day in after all.

"Are we going to-"

"We're going to Hyak Sno-Park." answered Dave.

"That's so far!" exclaimed John.

The blond turned to look at John, his face showing an obvious 'duh' answer to the others reaction. Yes the place was far from where John was, but that's all to Dave's plan to have a bro day with him.

"That's why we're taking a bus."

"But we need passes too-"

A free hand whipped out of his pocket revealing two daily passes specifically for Hyak Sno-Park, John quieted as he stared at Dave. Dave planned this whole thing out.

"I got this John, don't worry. Think of this as a late Christmas gift."

The blue eyed teen bit his lips as he stared hesitantly at the other, "Alright."

It was near 2:15 PM once the two friends reached the park, people were still crowding the place even at this time of day. Dave pulled the sled behind him as John followed along jumping like a puppy, what a way to spend a day. Showing their tickets, they were granted to enter the park area.

"C'mon Dave!" grinned John as he ran up ahead.

A grin crawled on Dave's face as he ran after, almost tripping a few times here and there before reaching the top of the hill with John. The families and friends were enjoying theirselves as they went down the hill, the blond set down his sled properly and motioned for John to get on.

"Are you getting on too?" questioned John.

"Yeah, but you get on first." answered Dave.

With a nod, John got on the sled happily; Dave waited for John to get on and steady before he set a foot on the sled. He pushed the both of them as hard as he could forward before holding onto John's shoulders for support. A scream emitted from John's lips as he held the sled steady while making sure his balance didn't knock the both of them off of the sled.

"AAAAAaaaaHHHH! d AAAAVEEEE!"

"WOOOOOOoo!"

Blue and Red flashed down the mountain of white, their speed increasing as they got further down the hill. Cold air nipped at their face and ears as a soft trickle of snow began to fall from the sky.

Once the sled carrying the two boys came to a halt, silence took over the air with uncontrollable laughter soon following fit. John took off his fogged glasses as he tried to calm himself down from laughing so hard; Dave fell onto the floor, face red as it could get as laughing hard started to hurt his torso.

"Why-Why didn't yOU si-Ahahah!" attempted John, "Sit down?"

Giggles and needy breaths were the only things that could be heard from Dave as he tried to reply, the aftermath of the laughter only made the two laugh harder. John sat down in the snow as he couldn't take standing any longer.

"I..." trailed Dave as he finally calmed himself down enough to talk, "That would have...Been boring plus we were already...Already going down so fast I couldn't get down without falling off."

Breathless laughs and giggles emptied out of John as he looked over at Dave, "Let's go again, I'm standing this time."

A smirked replaced Dave's grin as he sat up, snow sticking on his hair and coat.

"If you can stay on."

4:18 PM

A rush of air dashed down the mountain with two red faced boys, they were grinning and howling with laughter as they reached the bottom of the hill. Dave took in deep breaths of air as John squirmed and laughed as he rolled on the ground.

"We should go home Dave."

"Not without a kiss."

"What?"

Dave was facing John as he got up to look at the other, a playful smile was on the blond's face as he laughed. A small chuckled escaped John's lips shook his head, but he hesitated. A kiss.

Blue eyes stared up at the still laughing Strider. His laugh. When did it become so vivid? So...Twinkly. A kiss, he's done it once before. A kiss is nothing, it's just a kiss, a platonic kiss nothing more nothing less. It'd really catch Dave off guard too, so it'll be like an...Ironic prank..?

Soft noises of John's jacket moving indicated the movement of John himself, he leaned in quickly and planted a kiss onto Dave's red colored cheek. The albino froze and shut himself up as he processed the feel of being kissed.

"There." giggled John, "Now let's go home, you can stay over. I think you left some spare clothes at my place so you don't have to wear the same, probably wet, outfit."

John picked himself up from the ground and shook off the snow that stuck to him; Dave's heart was beating fast, his cheeks burnt hot enough you'd imagine how he didn't get third degree burns, John actually kissed him and he didn't seem bothered by it. It was probably an act, just a face to not alarm him that he pushed John too far.

"Dave? You're going to get sick if you just sit there!"

The sound of John's voice snapped him out of his internal ramble, he got up and grabbed the sled, racing over to John with a smile.

Maybe next year isn't the year after all.


	11. Resolution

Steam of hot chocolate rose from two mugs as two bundles of bodies sat on the sofa. Blue and black, red and white..err more of an off white yellow color. They were snowed in for the day, so Dave couldn't walk back home or get a ride from Mr. Egbert. Soft lips touched the rim of the mug and took a sip of the hot drink.

"The new year is right around the corner Dave." piqued John, "You know what that means."

"Our New Years resolution." smiled Dave as he drank his hot chocolate.

"Did you even get halfway through yours?" asked John.

A chuckle escaped Dave's lips as he remembered his resolution for that year. There was always that one which he could never accomplish, but he always put it on his resolution list every year. The blue eyed teen blinked as he stared at Dave; he always chuckled before telling John his answer for some reason.

"Ahh just about," answered Dave, "Maybe I should transfer them onto next years."

"If they're that hard to do then don't put it on again." said John.

Dave shrugged as he took a sip, his drink starting to cool down a bit to take in more of the drink at a time. This is the first year they've ever been snowed in together and a first time in a while that they've written their resolution together in person. The wind knocked on the window breaking the short silence that was between them.

"Let's go to my room so we can start writing." John said shifting on his seat next to Dave.

The blond frowned as he looked at John start to get up, now there was a big, cold space next to him. The dark haired boy smiled and set his cup down on the side table before he went to tug on Dave. His hands grabbed a hold of the red blanket that was holding Dave tightly; Dave whined as he retorted, pulling the blanket back onto him.

"Come on Dave."

"No, let's just sit here for a while longer."

"If we don't go now we'll never go later."

The red blanket moved back and forth between the two as they fought one another, Dave holding the mug tightly so it wouldn't slip and fall while John used both of his hands to pull the blanket out so Dave would get up. The blond knew he wasn't going to have the grip on the blanket for much longer as his other hand was occupied, so as John was pulling his hardest Dave let go of the blanket causing John to stumble back and fall flat on his ass.

"Nice job Egbert." smirked Dave as he slowly got up, stretching his limbs as the cold started to travel up every inch of his uncovered skin.

John pulled the red blanket off of his head and glared up at Dave who was laughing softy, "Daaave."

As alarming as John's voice sounded, this was no trouble to Dave. He grabbed John's mug of now warm hot chocolate and headed for the stairs telling John to get off of his ass and hurry if he wanted to write down his New Years resolution; fixing his glasses, John reluctantly got up and followed his best friend up the stairs and into his room where movie posters were hung around the walls.

"Every time I come in here I swear I loose some of my sanity." commented Dave as he set their cups down.

"Oh like I don't feel the same whenever I walk into your room." replied John as he went to get paper and pencils from his school bag.

Red eyes rolled and set themselves upon John's butt. Dave bit his lips as his eyes lingered on John, even as 14 year olds Dave sure did have thoughts including him and John. He loves to imagine what John would look like when they were 16.

"Uhh, Dave, you needa use the bathroom?"

His conscious was snapped back into him as John's voice hit his ears, how long was John standing there!? Dave sighed and shook his head, he was such a fool.

"No, just lost in thought." Dave answered.

"You're always lost in thought." said John, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Totally, now let's get to writing those resolutions for 2k10."

Soft scribbles of lead on paper took over the atmosphere as the two boys wrote in silence only speaking up from time to time to ask a question or so. Papers littered the bed and the floor beside it as their lists went on and on, John's probably being the longest. Dave stared at his paper as he tried to put some thought into what he would want to accomplish for that next year.

John's dad often came up with batches of cookies and small pastries for the two to munch on. As much as it was embarrassing to John, Dave didn't seem to mind at all and ate while he thought and wrote. For some Betty Crocker brand sweets, they weren't so half bad.

"Another sheet John? I bet you aren't even going to get through two sheets." commented Dave as he munched on a cookie.

"Hey, I can dream and write it down can't I?" said John, "If I can even do half a sheet that'd be something to me."

"Oh you know what you should put down John?" asked Dave.

John arched an eyebrow, "What?"

"Get a girlfriend." he smirked and laughed.

A light blush formed on his cheeks as he kicked Dave as hard as he could, "That's not funny!"

"Dude but it's true, I mean come on I don't think you've ever gone on a date before." said Dave.

"And you have? Besides it's because you're always with me-"

"More like you're always with me."

That stopped John for a second, he stuttered before getting back his words. Dave have a brief laugh as he listened to what John had to say.

"Even so people probably think that I'm gay."

" 'I'm gay'? " questioned Dave, "You're so sure that people think that you're gay, but not me as well?"

"Well...Yeah, just look at you. You're so smooth at talking and literally everything about you just screams 'Girls want me' " said John.

A smile formed on Dave face as he chuckled, hearing that from John was quite a surprise. Honestly if he were to compare them two it would be he that would scream 'I'm gay' and John 'I'm a cute, dorky gentleman that all the girls would love to have as their boyfriend'

"What's so funny about that?" asked John.

"Nothing." said Dave as his eyes trailed to his own resolution list, "If that's such a bother to you write they down on your resolution."

"It's...Not so much a bother but a thought." said John doodling on his paper.

"Then don't dude, easy as that." said Dave scribbling something down.

Blue eyes stared at the blond writing on the sheet of paper. That conversation they just had really left John to think about their friendship. The things they do don't really...Fit into bros only does it? But Dave's a special case...Right?

"Are you done?" asked John as he sat up straight.

The albino's pink lips curled up into a small smile as he stared down at his last resolution.

Ask John

"Yeah... I'm done..."


	12. What did I do?

This chapter is from the help of PyroInfinite on Wattpad.)

It's been two months and a few days since Dave had been over at John's place; they wrote their new year's revolution that night. As every year, John had bugged Dave to see his list of resolutions but he always refused. The bespectacled teen has always been curious about what his best friend wrote because he never tells him anything about it, John knows it isn't polite to pry but he's been aching to know for a long time on what he writes.

At the moment, John was sitting on the bed of Dave Strider, the said person was out dealing with his older brother. The thought scared John, Dave and his older brother. He's only experienced their strifes so few times, but it was enough to worry about Dave on a mother status. They don't have the best relationship, but it was...Okay? Compatible to the minimal.

"This is taking longer than usual." he said to himself, "I hope he doesn't get too banged up."

Soft footsteps walked across the room to the desk lined up against the wall, Dave's turn tables were sitting on the table ready to be used at any time's notice. The dark haired teen's finger gently ran across the disc sitting propped in the machine causing a note to ring out through the room. It was always a mystery on how Dave could use this like a professional.

John then explored more of the desk, a hand pulling a drawer open only to have it shoot out spilling it's contents inside. He stumbled back and fell, papers falling around him, crunching and creasing even more that it had been before. A groan escaped from his throat as he placed a hand on one of the fallen papers.

"What's this?"

Scribbles could be seen on the white sheets surrounding him, some had nonsensical words that looked like it was written in a hurry, probably some things for future raps. But a few seemed very familiar. John scrunched his eyebrows and picked a few up, reading over a few of then until he came to a sheet that had a list...Resolutions.

"These are his...Resolutions." said John just above a whisper.

Blue eyes scanned the list, his heart picking up speed as he read. They were actual goals; Dave had set goals for himself instead of nonsensical, almost impossible dreams unlike himself. Amazement seeped through him as he read Dave's resolution, he always knew Dave was better than he let himself to be. One thing caught him off his guard though. At the bottom of the page two words caught his attention.

Ask John.

"Ask...Me?"

Hands went to find another list of resolutions from the years they've had together, once he found one his eyes went to the bottom and found the same two words. He spent the next few minutes collecting the blond's list of resolutions to find the same exact words on each and every one. A thought ran through his mind as he tried to find a list from early onto their friendship. They didn't have the same words at the bottom.

"He obviously needs to ask me something..." said John, "But wh-"

"What are you doing?"

The sudden voice made John jump, head whipping over to the door where his best friend stood. His clothes were ruined, cuts decorating his face and arms. The blue eyed teen stood up in a panic, walking over to him. This is the first time he's ever seen him so messed up from one of his strifes with his older brother.

"Dave, you're all bruised up." panicked John.

"Why're all my papers on the ground?"

John glanced behind him at the papers he was looking through before Dave walked in. It wasn't that he made a mess, papers and photographs were already littering the floor, but the fact that Dave was mentioning it and ignoring his concern was quite alarming. Usually he'd be all smug and tease him. Blue eyes looked up at shades, a guilty look pouring through.

"I'm sorry Dave, I was just looking at your turn tables and I opened one of your drawers and..." he explained to him, "Well...I saw that you've been wanting to ask me something."

The uneasiness of a minute's silence ate away at John; Dave walked past his best friend and started to pick up the papers that were in hands before. The blond stood up, head hanging down. Something's wrong. Dave usually is never quiet after a strife, he'd either complain, whine, grumble quietly.

"I don't feel so hot dude, I think you should go home."

"Dave wa-"

"I don't feel so hot. You need to go back home."

Dave's tone in his voice made John's blood stop, he's done something seriously wrong. Terribly wrong. The dark haired male took a step towards Dave, but moved back towards the door; he's already caused enough trouble and tension.

"I hope you get better soon Dave, don't let those get infected." John said with a weak smile.

"Appreciate it." said Dave curtly, continuing to pick up the papers and other things that were on the ground.

With a last look at the banged up albino, John walked out of the room into the living room where the front door was. There was a quick breeze, causing John's heart to feel like it stopped. Bro had just passed him, leaving the front door wide open for the teen. Eyes fluttered as he walked out the door, closing it shut, leaving both Striders alone once again.

Hands came up to cover John's face, a flurry of emotions swirling through him. Was this their official first argument? Was this how arguments felt like? He didn't like it. It was a terrible feeling that he never wants to feel ever again.

"What did you do John?" he questioned himself, "What did I do..."


	13. One Vantas

(This chapter is also the help of PyroInfinite)

"He looked...Dave sounded just so...I can't explain it! I've never heard him sound like that before."

A frustrated John Egbert was lying on the bed of Karkat Vantas who was grumbling over his desk scribbling down answers to his homework which they were suppose to be doing together. The honey brown blond had been listening to the other for a little over half an hour and it was starting to get on his nerves. Red eyes moved over to look at the sulking teen who was staring up at the ceiling.

"John just please, I know you're worried but we've got to get this done before we sulk away in our personal problems." said Karkat, turning around to look at him.

John sat up, his black hair a mop of a mess and eyes derimmed from his glasses. He blinked a few times to get his eyes to focus on Karkat, his eyes burning from lack of blinking. His glasses were on the white pillow where his head laid.

"Sorry Karkat, I'm just feeling guilty."

Knock.  
Knock.  
Knock.

"I apologize for the intrusion Karkat, but fatheerrrr..."

The blond's door opened and came in a brunet, hair just as messy as Karkat's. His scarlet eyes set upon John, lips pursing as he looked back at Karkat. The three of them stood in silence for a good minute or two.

"...Kankr-"

"I sincerely apologize! I didn't know we had a guest over!" said Kankri, "Why didn't you tell me you were bringing a friend over? I would have gotten things ready for him."

"No one wants to see your list of trigger warnings Kankri. Anyone would just tell you-"

"No, no Karkat. I want to avoid saying anything that would cause them distress before hand."

Glasses were brought back to eyes, Kankri in their line of sight. He wore a bright red sweater that looked a size too big and a pair of black pants that were most likely skinny jeans. The brunet, despite the contrast in hair color and the slight shift in skin tone, looked almost exactly like Karkat.

"This is Kankri?" questioned John.

"My, Karkat has spoken of me. That is quite a big deal." softly smiled Kankri.

"Shut up." grumbled Karkat.

Kankri walked over to his younger brother, uttered a quick warning before flicking his forehead. The blond glared up at his brother; Kankri turned to look at John, giving him a small smile. The dark haired teen blinked up at the older Vantas.

"I hope Karkat has been treating you fairly, as you can see he isn't the most..."

John tilted his head as he waited for the other to finish his sentence, Karkat was just about ready to smack his brother up the head with a textbook. Kankri stood, a hand rising up to hold back the book. His red eyes glanced back before continuing what he was going to say.

"Trigger warning; Insults, sibling, hereinafter argument, possible physical violence, verbal attacks." he listed, "Proper when it comes to socializing."

Pressure was added to Kankri's hand as Karkat pushed down to try to let the textbook make contact with his brother's head. Hopefully with enough force to get it to hurt. A giggle could slipped from John as he watched the two siblings, as warned, fought back at each other verbally. He always wanted to have a feel of having a sibling no matter if there older or younger, it seemed like fun.

"As I was saying before this whole mess erupted, father told me to tell you that your Ampora and Captor are waiting for you."

"Eridan and Sollux? Waiting for me? The fuck did we-" stopped Karkat as realization it him, "...Shit."

The textbook dropped to the floor as a flash of yellow dashed out of the room; John looked out the door just in time to see Karkat skid around the corner of the hall. A soft sigh was the first noise to be heard as Kankri picked up the fallen textbook. It was pretty awkward now, the two remaining persons didn't know each other too well.

"John Egbert is it?"

The young teen perked up as he heard his name, head whipping to look at the other who was tidying up Karkat's desk. Hands moved papers, set things in their rightful place, adjusting things so they looked orderly. Blue eyes widened as he watched him move around Karkat's things so comfortably, so sure that he'd like it there or there, under there and a top of there.

"It's rude not to answer a question as simple as that."

"A-ah, I'm sorry. Yes I'm John." stuttered John.

A minute of silence rung in the air.

"Trigger warning; eavesdropping, personal conversation, advice, relationships." listed off Kankri, "You seem to be having trouble with this said Dave."

"Mhh..."

Kankri walked on over and sat a ways next to John, offering a good smooth of a bubble. The teen perked his lips out as he ran over his thoughts, yes it was true that he was having trouble with Dave and Kankri did...Say advice so was he saying he was willing?

"I'm not prying anything out of you, just curious."

"Yeah...It's confusing me."

"How so?"

John gave a soft sigh as he clenched his fist, "I don't know if it was a fight or an argument...But the atmosphere at that time was so tense it felt like we had been going at each other for hours."

"Why don't you tell me what happened."

That day flooded back into his eyes and ears, the tone of Dave's voice rung and the stumble of his walk flashed though his mind. It was something he's never experienced from Dave before and it left him on a cliff. What was he to do? What did he do?

"This is why people must tag their triggers." Kankri said exasperated, "You must think on what went wrong John. Reflect."

"That's what I've been doing the last few days, but nothing comes to mind...At least..." responded John looking at the brunet.

The Vantas stood up to walk around Karkat's room, blue eyes following him around. Soft mumbling came from his lips as he went around to rearrange things, taking the most time to rearrange the collection of RomComs Karkat loves so dearly.

"Does Karkat let you touch his things?" asked John.

"Oh no, he highly dislikes me even being in his room without him in here, and even then he still doesn't like me being in here." replied Kankri.

"Then why do you?"

"Because I know how he likes his things."

His things?

"I don't understand what you mean..." trailed John.

A finger pushed in a CD case into it's rightful place in the shelf where it almost always was. The brunet's lips curled up as he continued to organize the CD cases that were out of place, having done this time and time again. Especially when he needed to let off steam.

"I know how Karkat likes his movies arranged. Alphabetical order by director, then title. I know how Karkat likes his clothes folded, desk organized, bed made, everything." said Kankri, "We may not seem like we get along too well, but I know well enough about him and he feels comfortable enough to let me do these things when I please."

The sincere tone weaving through Kankri's voice as he spoke about his relationship with Karkat is something to admire, especially with their outward scene behavior. They're both so domestic at home where it was just them, just family who understood. John smiled, light butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"That's very admirable." commented he.

"And it's also your lesson for not heading to Dave's space of privacy." said Kankri sternly, "It's obvious enough that he wasn't comfortable enough for you to meddle around in his room with his belongings without his permission. You may have been left alone, but that doesn't give you any immediate right to start messing around in his room if you two haven't gotten to a point yet. You had set him off and by you had told me it may have possibly put him in an even worst mood-"

John gave a weak smile as he took in Kankri's scolding, this was probably what he needed though. His father never scolded him, teachers never directly scolded him, Dave never scolded him seriously (Karkat overly, aggressively scolds him over the funniest things though). His voice droned on for who knows how long before the steam died out in him.

"You're right...I should heed 'curiosity kills the cat' more often, it really kind of is true." said John rubbing the back of his neck, "But...What do I do now? I don't think things will be too comfortable with Dave any longer."

"Trigger warning; invasion of personal space."

"Whaa?"

A hand belonging to Kankri set itself upon John's head, ruffling his hair a bit as his lips curled up. Older brothers do keep their instinct whether it's for their own younger siblings or someone unrelated. The bespectacled teen smiled.

"Thank you Kankri." happily said John, "I really needed this. I really did..."

Now, how to deal with this problem.


	14. 5th

A single individual walked down the sidewalk of the many lined white houses in the quiet neighborhood. No one was outside. It's even currently a nice, warm evening; the sun hadn't even touched the horizon yet. A gust of wind ran through the air, moving little things like leaves, dust, wind chimes...

"It doesn't really matter on who apologizes and makes up first, as long as you two understand each other while it's happening."

Lips pursed together in a straight line as reminders repeated themselves in the blond's mind. Dave took in deep breaths as he clenched his fists together; he had spoken with Rose about his predicament. While they had been chatting, he had met with one of his cousin's, Dirk Strider. He had also helped out with his problem, having been in a relationship problem once before.

"It's terrifying how you look so much like Bro."

"That's how you know we're all related."

He had overreacted that day, he knew that. He shouldn't have kicked John out like that because he was in a bad mood after the strife, but anger makes you say things you don't really mean. Spending that rest of the day alone and frustrated wasn't the ideal way to cool off.

"If he doesn't come to you first, it'd be nice to go to him on that special day since it's coming up. It'll let him know that you've been thinking of him."

School was a bore without having John around. It seemed like he was avoiding him all day and not to mention all week for the matter. John probably hated him now, having treated him like that. He wouldn't blame him though.

"It's better to patch a single stitch than to let the piece rip further until it can't be found in the pile of regrets."

The advice Dirk had given him had made things seem so easy, and sometimes it's like that. Easy. But life has it's wheel of fortune, fate, knowing how things will end and start. Luck is out of the question though, whoever believes in luck just has an easy route laid out for them.

Red eyes looked at the designated house he was so familiar with, memories of the two of them over the span of 5 years were made there; out in the yard, in the living room, in John's room. Not being able to come back here made him pull his eyebrows together in a distressed expression.

"You can bring a gift too, that will be relevant."

Dave had debated on bringing a gift. What was he to bring? Something big? Small? Something that John would like? (Well, obviously something that John would like.) Something for him to keep forever? Something edible? The variables were endless.

Just a bit further until he had to face the baby faced John he had fallen head over heels for so long ago. His blue eyes were gorgeous and his black rimmed glasses framed his face so perfectly. John's lips were so perfect, so kissable.

"First loves are the most difficult. Trust me, I'm dating my first love and it's not as easy as it is in movies, it can't even compare to movies because our drama was much more intense."

"Just make sure he smiles, alright Dave?"

Smiles. His smiles were the best.

The soft sound of a fan blowing filled the room, said fan was blowing warm air into the dark haired male's face. John had his glasses off and set to the side as His head was resting on his arms, eyes drooping from exhaustion. His hair was a mess, strands of black laid down upon his head and face.

Karkat had been dragged around school by John that whole week as to avoid Dave, but it had seem that Dave made no effort to try to approach and talk to him at all. The disappointment in John had left him in the dirt.

Sleep was just about to over take him, but the doorbell rang. He jumped up, heart quickening by the scare of the doorbell ringing. John blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes, grabbing his glasses before he walked out of his room to open the front door. His father was out, so who could it be? Karkat?

"Hello?"

Standing in front of him was the one person he's been wanting to see this whole week, Dave Strider. His lips parted as his eyes widened, focusing on the albino. A crooked smile laid out on his lips as he had an arm hidden behind his back. Dave looked perfectly back to normal though, which was a relieve.

"D-Dave!"

"Hey John."

It felt comforting to hear his name come from Dave, he never knew how weird it felt not to hear Dave's voice in general. He's missed it.

"Before you say anything, I want to apologize for...You know." said Dave, "I was in a fucking mood, didn't feel so great you know. Didn't know what came into me."

So it wasn't his fault.

"I'm not mad that you saw my papers. I think that's what you've been thinking? Those were bullshit papers anyway."

Relief surged through John and a smile stretched across his face as he looked at Dave, they're still friends. Still best bros. His hands were brought down to his sides, brushing his shorts that he had on at the moment.

"I'm sorry too," John said, "I shouldn't have been touching your things anyway."

"It's alright bro, just papers."

"S-Speaking of that day. I finally got to see your resolutions."

Dave chuckled and his other hand went to scratch the back of his head. It was bound to happen sooner or later, just not how he had expected it but it happened. Though it was embarrassing, having John discover his one goal that he can never go through with.

"They're amazing, way more better than mine."

"Yours are much more interesting though."

"But I can never do those."

"It's worth a try."

They were conversing normally again, kind of felt like none of that had ever even happened. This experience is sure something for the both of them to remember for a while.

"But...Dave...What was it that you wanted to ask me? You've been keeping it back for a long time now." asked John.

The dreaded question he's been hoping not to hear.

"I...John I..."

He took in a breath, stepping closer to place their foreheads together. His hand coming to rest on John's shoulder. Bright red eyes looked down through two layers of glass to meet with John's deep blue eyes, the same eyes that he's grown to love. The same eyes that fit his face so perfectly.

Heat started to move up to his face, cheeks turning pink. John's face was no different, a blush tinting his cheeks as he stuttered trying to say something. Dave brought his other hand to the front, now revealing what he was holding.

A single red, thorn-less rose.

"Happy 5th Broversary."

"Eww Dave, so cheesy." giggled John, "But that isn't what you wanted to ask is it?"

"Hey, at least I tried." pouted Dave.

"Fine, fine, I'll give you credit."

"Now then, what did you get for me?"

John paused and blinked, "Ahh..."

It wasn't unusual for John to forget things, happens all the time. It was actually kind of cute, yet inconvenient at the same time too.

"Then how about a kiss on the cheek?"

"W-Wha-"

"Just kidding." chimed Dave, "Just pushing your buttons."

The blue eyed male huffed and glared up at Dave, lips perking out as he stared at the laughing blond. Two can play it that way. John lifted himself on his tiptoes, moving his head to the side and placed his lips on the pale cheek softly; Dave stopped laughing, eyes widening as he saw John pull back with a smug smile.

"There, I gave you your gift." said John.

And I've just fallen even harder for you.


	15. ..Nevermind

(A chapter shadowing Karkat and where he ran off to)

A black clothed figure ran down the street of his neighborhood, down to town's square where he was suppose to meet up with Eridan Ampora and Sollux Captor. They had planned to get a gift for Feferi because her dance competition was in a few weeks, like a good luck gift. Karkat couldn't trust the two of them to go alone together because nothing but bickering fits would get done.

"Damn it." panted Karkat as he looked around for the two, "Where'd they run off to?"

Karkat sped walked down the sidewalk and looked through different shops to find the two, they weren't where they were all suppose to meet up and that was more Karkat's fault for being late...And forgetting they we're suppose to meet up that day, but they wouldn't have left either it was their idea. The blond groaned as he leaned against a wall.

"I can ju-"

A thought came to mind, but once he shoved his hands into his pocket he realized he had left his phone at home. Frustration flooded him and it took everything in him to keep his calm. He clenched his fists and he bit his bottom lip, the stupidity that he had was indescribable. Remembering his breathing technique, he closed his eyes and let his fists loosen.

It wasn't that he had an anger issue, it was more over he didn't know how to control certain levels of it. His chest rose up and down in a slow rhythmic pattern, the sounds of cars and the civilians passing him blurring through him. He felt himself start to calm down a bit, his muscles relaxing as his head had the relieve of a future headache.

"I'll just walk around a little more," he told himself, "And if I can't find them I'll just go home."

Getting back on his feet, he began to wander around the town. Keeping in mind that he should also seek out a gift for the Peixes girl while he tracked down the other two. She was quite preppy and bubbly, so maybe something she can wear would be a good gift.

"I've known her longer than you have, and I say she'll like this better."

"Obviously you haven't been updated on FF because she'll like this rather than what you have in mind."

His ears perked up as he heard the two familiar voices, Eridan and Sollux, both having their own quirks in speech. Whipping around, he scanned the area to catch sight of at least one of them. It shouldn't be too hard, after all Eridan and Sollux were both freakishly tall for Freshmen...Or it was the matter that Karkat is short.

"Where are they?"

Karkat walked up and around a bit further before seeing the violet streak that set itself upon the light gold, brunet's hair. He sighed in relief as he saw Sollux along with him, less of a hassle if they're still together. Which is a surprise that they are still together.

"Finally!" cheered Karkat as he went towards their direction, "Hey Eridan! Sollll..."

While he was walking up go them, they hadn't noticed the blond even with the shouting. Their focus was too much on each other, the tension high around them. What made Karkat trail his words was not another silly bicker...But a sudden tension relieving kiss, possible make out session.

He stood there dumbfounded, eyes widening before narrowing slowly. His eyebrows scrunched together and his lips pursed together in a thin line. This sight wasn't to his appeal...Especially if it pertained Eridan and Sollux, but everyone knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Just why now? Why with him? Karkat stood and stared for a good minute or two before both his hands raised up in the air.

"...I'm done. I'm going back home."


	16. No John

(Headcanon that the Vantas' are Norwegian <3)

April 1st, one of John Egbert's favorite day of the year. The one day Dave Strider dreads the most each oncoming year. Ever since befriending John he's been barraged with pranks on a weekly basis. As the years went on they weren't so big and as face palm worthy, but they were still pretty shitty.

The cold morning air hit Dave's face as he walked his way over to school, mentally preparing himself for the day. It wasn't so bad, he hangs out with John throughout the day and gets to see him grin ear to ear, laughing his ass off at the people who falls for his shenanigans. What nerves him was that it was he and that guy Karkat that got the worst pranks out of everybody.

"Man, I'm just going to have to live with this the rest if my life don't I?" he asked himself, "He's never going to stop pulling pranks on me and everyone around him until his dying days. I won't even be surprised if he died from laughing so hard from a prank. I won't be surprised if he crashed his own funeral for a dirty little prank scare, that'll be so shitty making us scared ass fuck and preparing a whole funeral for him. He thinks he's sooo quirky, if he wasn't so fucking cute I would have already gotten him back so bad."

Dave rambled to himself the whole walk to school, subjects changing in an instant as soon as there was a relevant topic to go off on. Growing up with literally no one to talk to often, he confided into himself for conversation.

Soon he arrived at school, some people greeting him as he walked past. Lately he's been gaining an unwanted title for himself. It didn't hit him in the beginning, but as soon as they were dragging him away from John ever so often that's when he realized that something had gained him the eyes of the more known people in the school.

"Like I want their mainstream shit." He muttered as he wandered the school, waiting for John to arrive by bus.

After greeting what seemed like the whole damn school, he strode on over to John locker, seeing the other digging through inside forsomething. He smiled and knocked on the open locker door, startling him. Dave chuckled as John looked over and beamed when he saw him.

"You startled me."

"Was the plan." he said, "But ever so, I'm watching you."

John gave his doe eyes and a mischievous, innocent smile. Oh he was playing this card with him.

"Don't give me that look, I know very well what that face is." said Dave pointing at him.

"I swear I'm innocent!" perked John.

"I'm still watching my back."

The Prankster was back at it again with his pranks and a whole lot of new people to pull them off; he had gotten Karkat and the small group of friends he had, some of their older siblings and most of the staff. Dave was high on his guard, cautious of every step he took throughout the day as he saw brave victims fall to John's shenanigans. He felt as if he was the last man standing in this battlefield of the Gambit of Pranks ruled, controlled and fought by King John Egbert himself.

During lunch John almost had him, but Karkat bravely took in place and ate the sweets he had brought from home. They were filled with vanilla pudding, add the fact that it was warm as well. He might as well filled it with mayonnaise if he was going to food poison the whole school. The Norwegian gave John a loud earful of complaints and insults as the prankster laughed.

Somehow John was able to switch out Cronus' hair gel with glue, causing a big mess, lots of tears and a lot of Kankri. Karkat fairly enjoyed this prank along with Eridan, the both of them snickered at their older brothers. The bespectacled teen swiftly moved onto his next victim as he saw the glue switch was a success.

April 1st is John's strongest day to take action and he doesn't upset in the slightest. He's taking down men and women at every corner, combos piling up with ever class he enters. The soldiers are getting shot at one by one.

"John is game this year." he mumbled to himself as he tapped his fingers on his desk.

It was their last period and he was sure he was safe, finally getting through the day alive and unpranked. Sollux was quietly grumbling to himself, he had John last hour so anyone can confirm that John dealt with him. Dave smirked and wondered what his love had done to the computer nerd.

The bell rang ending class; everyone gathered their things, papers shuffling and chatter rising in volume. Finally class had ended concluding the school day, Dave walked out of his class going down to the library to wait for John who was, no less, most likely to be late.

"Just a walk home, and you're safe." said Dave to himself as he leaned against the pillar.

Students of all years passed him, giving a wave and/or a goodbye as they hurried on to their busses or designated clubs. It would be too rude for him not to give some sort of reply back so he gave curt nods and lazy waves in return. Was it this hard to have so much attention to people you don't even know? Because it really seemed so.

"Sorry! Sorry!" exclaimed John who finally appeared.

"Finishing up one last prank might I ask?" questioned Dave.

"That, and because I stopped by the cafeteria."

Getting back steadily on his feet, the blond began the walk towards the school. John followed happily, panting slightly from the sprint he had to get to Dave. By now most of the students has left so the halls were nice and cleared out.

"I'm impressed." said Dave.

"Of course you are, I'm the best." John said triumphantly.

"But you still didn't get me...Speaking of this, what you do to computer nerd?"

"I asked if I could borrow his calculator then changed all the settings on it, oh I also set the language to German."

A fist raised up for a bump from Dave's end, John's fist connecting with Dave's. The black haired teen giggled and continued to tell the many tales of his pranks that day. It was adorable to see him ramble on about the successful missions, especially when it made him giddy enough to laugh.

"Hey John, why don't you just walk to school of your house is of walking distance?" asked Dave suddenly.

Blue eyes looked over at the albino and he hummed, "Well it's the morning, I really don't want to walk all the way to school."

Shoulders shrugged, "I guess, but wouldn't it be nice to have time on your own y'know."

"Hnn, I guess that it'd be nice, but I can't abandon Terezi and Aradia."

"Thought you didn't like Rezi." questioned Dave.

John and Terezi weren't on too good of terms as far as Dave knows, to hear that they have been getting along was quite questionable. Sure they don't really fight, but they do bicker and insult each other at times notice. Usually it happens when John hangs out with Karkat's group of friends no matter the whole 12 or a few out of them.

"Well, she's okay. She's very fun to be around at times, but I don't think I can stand being with her all day. She can get really...What's the word, unbearable?" explained John, "She gets full of herself sometimes and she makes fun of me!"

"Yo dude chill." chuckled the blond, "A simple answer would have been nice, no explanation needed."

"Sorry...Oh! Almost forgot! You know how I went to the cafeteria." John said digging through his bag, "Catch."

A bottle of Apple juice flew from John's hand and to the other; eyes narrowed at the unsealed bottle. Odd, the school would never sell unsealed bottles. Dave looks over at John who was nibbling on a cookie that the school sold.

"I swear I didn't do anything! What's so wrong with taking a small sip?"

"My trust in you lowers so low on this day, I don't know whether to trust you or not."

"The day's already over right? I tried so hard to get at you and almost had if not Karkat had intervened." John pursued.

Dave sighed and opened the bottle of juice; John was right, the day was over and an attempt at him was already made, so there wasn't any harm right? He stared down at his favorite drink of all time, though something about it seemed off.

"Anyways, you can turn back and walk home now Dave."

The dark haired teen began to walk home alone, giving Dave a short wave. Rows of white houses lined up in the block ahead indicating his street. A very quiet neighborhood it was, kinda bland too.

Watching him walk home, Dave brought the bottle to his lips taking a sip of the Apple Juice. Once his taste buds processed the juice, his eyes widened and he took a spit take. It wasn't Apple juice. Dave glared at John and threw the bottle of the false juice on the ground.

"APPLE JUICE SUBSTITUTE JOHN EGBERT!? HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!" exclaimed Dave.

John turned back, tongue peeking from his lips, and gave a peace sign, winking at the blond. Using the cute factor on Dave was one of his biggest and douchiest moves, but the receiving end adored it anyways.

"APRIL FOOLS DAVE!~" cheered John as he began to run back home.

"Oho, think you're getting away with this John?" he said before taking off in a dash, "NOT THIS YEAR! I'M GETTING YOU BACK!"

"ONLY IF YOU CAN!~"

A grin set upon both of their faces as they ran down the street.


	17. Happy Birthday John

It was early in the morning and Dave Strider was walking down the street of John Egbert's neighborhood. Today is a special day, not to Dave but to the corresponding. The blond has his camera around his neck as he checked it over again; he wanted to capture the special moments that are going to be made that day.

Three knocks on the door and Mr. Egbert appeared behind it. As usual he wore his white suit and black tie, his pipe was missing from his lips and fedora from his head revealing his groomed black hair. The older man arched a curious brow as seeing he's never seen Dave over so early.

"I'm here to escort Mr. John Egbert to school." he said staring up at him.

"Ah yes, how kind of you David." he said, "Come in while I fetch John."

Dave nodded and entered, closing the door behind him. The recognizable white house filled him with a sense of safety and love, unlike his own home. He's been in this house so many times he might as well move in. Though moving to live with John on their own was a more satisfying idea.

"Dave!" happily said John as he jumped down the stairs.

His hair was still a mess and he was still wearing his sleeping shorts. Red eyes looked over his figure and couldn't help but stare; he's slept over a ton of times but it always amazed him how good John looked right in the morning. John walked over to Dave and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Dave?"

The blond snapped out of his trance and focused on John, he gave a small smile as he gave a nod. The other smiled and brought his hands up to fix his hair the best he could without gel. Dave stretched and rested against the wall.

"Happy Birthday John." said Dave.

"Thanks Dave, still doesn't explain why you're here so early." John said.

"I'm here to take you out for your birthday, duh."

John blinked a few times, "But we have school."

A sigh escaped from Dave's lips as he laid his head back against the wall, sometimes John was too oblivious and naive. So innocent at times he was afraid to touch him. The teen stood straight up to look at the other.

"We're skipping today." told Dave, "We're going to be out all day having fun and you're not going to convince me that skipping is bad even if it's your birthday. So go change and hurry so your dad doesn't suspect anything."

The dark haired teen opened his mouth to retort but sighed as he knew Dave wasn't going to let it down pre-answering his 'but' statements. He nodded and hurried on upstairs to change into something comfortable as he seems like they're going to be out all day.

"He had his camera with him..." muttered John to himself as he slipped on his shirt, skipping to gel his hair in place.

"Seward Park!? That's all the way in Seattle, Dave." said John as he was sitting on the city bus with the albino.

"That's why we left early." responded Dave as he looked out the window, "Plus there's this rad event I've been dying to go to since I found out. Lucky it's around your birthday."

John perked his lips and sat quietly; Dave was such a cool friend to have, taking him out to things for special occasions. It's really sweet, and they do have a lot of fun while they're there. He feels bad for not doing as much in return for his best friend, the guilt was at the pit of his gut whenever Dave does something as special as this for him.

"C'mon John, we're here."

Eyes looked up at the other, and he nodded. Following Dave off of the bus, he looked around at the foreign town. Who knew you can feel so lost in the state you've lived for your whole life. John unconsciously took a hold of Dave's sleeve.

"I'm right here, no need to be so scared." smiled the blond as he looked over at him.

"R-Right."

The two of them walked through the town, passing by crowds of people, some even their own age. They were going to Seward Park to see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom, sure they could have gone earlier where it would have been more fresh but knowing that people would be crowding the place isn't a very pretty picture. Besides it was a good birthday date idea as well.

"What're we even doing at Seward Park?" asked John.

"You'll just have to see."

"What!? Why? Just tell me, I am the birthday boy after all." pleaded John.

Dave smiled and rolled his eyes, "I'll give you a hint. It's a very nice light pink color."

Light pink? What can be light pink? A flower? That...That isn't very Dave like at all. The birthday boy began to ponder about what Dave had in mind while they walked through the park. Dave brought a camera along with him so maybe somewhere pretty so he can take pictures...Photography is another interest he has.

"John..John?"

It was John's turn to snap out of his trance, looking at his best friend. The blond tilted his head to the side, indicating that he should look that direction. The bespectacled teen looked; his eyes widened and his mouth went agape as he saw the Cherry Blossom Trees covered in light pink petals and flowers.

SNAP

He looked over at Dave who had his camera up. Dave grinned and chuckled as he showed the other the picture. It captured the emotion of awe in his blue eyes, the sunlight hitting in some odd angles but it fit the picture. John smiled and gushed at himself.

"Very pretty." said Dave.

"A-Ahh..." trailed John as he nodded, "Very good timing."

Dave nodded and took John's hand, pulling him deeper into the small forest of the Cherry Blossom trees. Pink petals fell around them, making the atmosphere calm. Small bits of light shone through, illuminating the pathway just enough for them to see. John smiled as he looked around them, the scenery was perfect.

The blond couldn't help but enjoy the look on John's face as they walked hand in hand. They were alone together as everyone else was at work or at school. The fact that they are alone together in such a perfect setting made his heart soar.

"This is amazing Dave! Everything about this is just so...Perfect." marveled John.

"Perfect just for you John. It's your birthday after all, can't half ass things on your birthday."

"You always half-ass things." giggled John, "But you did plan this very accordingly. Looks like you and Rose do have some things in common intellectually."

"Hey, I can be a smartass like her. I just don't want to be." pouted Dave.

As they were walking and talking, they came upon a small clearing. The blue eyed teen grinned and let go of Dave's hand running into the open space. Dave laughed and followed him, wary of his camera strapped around his neck. John ran and laughed, looking behind him seeing Dave very close.

"Can't catch me Dave!"

"You little shit!"

They ran for a minute longer, Dave stopping to set his camera down on a stump but not before zooming in and hitting record. The albino then sprinted off after John, tackling him down to the ground and rolling over each other a few good times before stopping with him atop of the birthday boy. His legs straddled John's waist and hands above John's head keeping him from squishing the other against the grass.

John's glasses were out of place, crooked on his face as he laughed; his hands were on either side of his head. Dave chuckled, fixing his shades; he didn't need them to fall off just yet. Looking down at John, he took of the black rimmed glasses off of his face and placed it to the side before placing his hands on the other's, fingers entwining themselves through.

They both panted, catching their breath from running and falling. Adrenaline soon started to pump through them, a nice buzz spreading through. The wind began to blow, shaking the branches of the trees letting loose millions of pink petals over the two boys.

Blue eyes looked up at shades, reflection showing back, but when you look close enough you can see a faint pair of eyes gazing back. John opened his mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. His heart was pounding, not from the running but from something else that was also causing butterflies to conjure in his stomach.

They both gazed at each other for what seemed like hours, taking in the other's face. Memorizing every detail there was that wasn't there before. John had long thick lashes; Dave's facial structure was very admirable. John's irises are different shades of blue if you're close enough to see; Dave's eyes are sharp looking, but still had that young look. John had loose strands of hair that fell down on his face if not gelled; Dave had light freckles on his face that can only be seen in the sunlight at the right spot. Their lips looked soft.

Dave was the one to break the stilled air, leaning down. His eyes closed as their lips softly touched, merging together a second later. The sudden action didn't seem to faze John at all. The corresponding lowered his eyes, fingers slowly closing down on the albino's hands squeezing it gently. Their fingers locked together. John finally closed his eyes, slowly relaxing as his right leg shifted, moving up a bit.

Pink Cherry Blossom petals swirled around them as they shared their first kiss, the camera catching every second of it.


	18. Puzzled thoughts

It had been a week after they kissed, and John was still gushing over the fact that he let it happen. Everything happened so fast, he couldn't remember what ran through his mind at that time. All he could remember was how soft Dave's lips were pressed against his own, how they fit together so perfectly it was terrifying...How much he enjoyed it.

He sat in his desk for first hour, hands entangled in his hair and face flat down on the surface. His face began to burn red again from the thought, it wouldn't leave him alone. Fingers raked through the black bunches and clenched them, frustrated, eyebrows knitted together.

"What's wrong with you? Dave got your tongue?" asked Karkat who took a seat in front of him.

Blue eyes looked up at the blond, a pout on his lips. Red eyes looked through the other, an unimpressed look on his face. John pursed his lips and looked away embarrassed. Karkat just knew how to read people at their most lowest or embarrassing moments.

"W-Well..." he trailed.

Karkat perked up, an eyebrow. The tone of the others voice told a while other story than what was said. The blond's head laid against the palm of his hand as he thought up of a possible scenario. What could have possibly shaken the boy up? It was possible that Dave had said something or done something.

"What? What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"That's utter bullshit John!" exclaimed the Norwegian, "You and I both know something happened, so save me from losing my voice for the rest of go the day and fess up."

"Okay, okay just...Quiet down." said John waving his hands in front of him.

Karkat sat back and nodded confidently, happy to hear what John was going to tell him. The other though was reluctant to tell him, embarrassed to tell or merely explain what happened. But Karkat wasn't going to let him slip pass this one.

"You know what you said when you came to sit down."

The blond nodded, "What's wrong with you?"

"No, the other part." corrected John.

"Dave got your tongue?"

The blue eyes teen nodded, "Yeah, that..."

There was a silence between them, Karkat staring at John for an answer. His patience was starting to dim and it wouldn't do anyone good. John but his bottom lip as he tried to think of a way to say it the best way he could. Lips parted to say something, but closed to rethink his words over again.

"It's...Not entirely a lie?"

The Norwegian scrunched his eyebrows together, intensely looking at his friend. Not entirely a lie?...A strange reply to 'Dave got your tongue.' A thought dinged in his head as he shot up and slammed both hands on John's desk with a look of shock.

"No." said Karkat unsure.

All John could do was nod, cheeks burning from embarrassment. A grin took over Karkat's shocked look, he sat back down on his chair with joyous laughter. Victory was in his hands. The blond looked at the other happily, grin stuck on his face.

"Tell me everything that happened!"he said.

"Wh-Wha!"

"I need know!"

There was a hint of hesitance in his blue eyes, but he thought for a second. Maybe talking about it will finally let him feel at ease, that what people say right? Like venting?

"...Alright." he said defeated.

Dave pulled back, his eyes opening to look down at John. The dark haired teen's eyes were still closed. He look so pretty; his think lashes curled, lips still parted.

"John." he said breathless.

John's eyes fluttered open, revealing his beautiful shades of blue irises. The eyes that he he fell in love with. Dave gazed into his eyes, heart swelling up.

"Dave."

The albino leaned down to kiss him again, pulling back a second later to plant another kiss afterwards. The kisses soon became greedy, sloppy. Small noises emitted from the back of John's throat thriving Dave's course of action.

After a few minutes of needy kisses, John managed to turn his head. But Dave's lips landed on his jawline, trailing down to his neck. The birthday boy gasped and squirmed under him.

"Dave..."

By now Karkat was grinning like a maniac; John has never seen Karkat look so happy in the years that he's known him. The story of last week was now out and heard by Karkat, a RomCom enthusiast. Oh what can go wrong with this?

"This means a lot John! You know that right!" exclaimed Karkat, "The endless possibilities now! I can't believe it. I'll have to rewrite and adjust everything now. I need to discuss this with Nepeta."

John covered his face from embarrassment, "Kaaarkaaat! No!"

"Tell me John, was that your first kiss?" asked Karkat.

"Y-Yes?"

"You have sealed your damn fate John. This is it. That's your whole life right in that damn boy."

John looked at the other exhausted and groaned, setting his head back down on the desk. This was too embarrassing to even be real. Telling another person about what happened didn't work at all, it just made things click in his mind. The feelings, butterflies. The kiss; Dave's lips, first kiss.

"I didn't take Strider much of a romantic." said Karkat, "He always seemed like the type of guy who'd do things outright without a second's wait. Or maybe..."

Dave sure was interesting, Karkat would have to keep an extra eye on the other to see how he works thoroughly before he can deduct anything more in depth. Maybe Nepeta could help him with this new mission, and dreadfully so Terezi might be a possible help as well. Karkat laid back in his chair and sighed.

"You've got me worked up John."

"I know I do." replied the other, "Now just-"

The bell rang, interrupting John mid-sentence; clusters of students piled into the classroom to take a seat before the teacher walked in to start attendance and class. Blue eyes looked up at the back of the blond's head, it was a relief that Karkat wasn't paying anymore attention to him and the situation he was having...Maybe crisis is a better word for it.


	19. Rainy Day In

It was pouring rain that Saturday completely ruining the two boy's plan to go into town to buy whatever they found at the thrift store. John stared out the window, the street fogged up and wet; Dave laid on the couch, eyes closed as he listened to the rain pelleting the roof above them. Mr. Egbert was in the kitchen cooking up something for the both of them to snack on as per usual.

"John, get away from the window and get over here." Dave said cracking an eye open to look at his crush.

"I'm just waiting for the rain to stop."

"Watching it isn't going to make it stop sooner."

John sighed and walked over to Dave, sitting on the ground in front of the white couch. They were going to have some old fashioned fun in the backyard, playing with what they had and using their imagination to create their own little world. Rain just had to come down and wash away his excitement did it.

"Why're you sitting on the ground for, get on the couch." said Dave.

"You're hogging the whole couch Dave."

The albino sat up, hair ruffled from laying down; he patted the space next to him and smiled. John rolled his eyes and got up, plopping down next to his friend. The seat was warm from Dave's body heat.

"I know you're upset but let's take what we can get." said Dave.

"What do you mean by that?" questioned John.

Dave looked back up at the ceiling, "What do people do on rainy days?"

John blinked and hummed, what he usually did was stay in his room watching movies or played around on his computer with codes and such. Other people really did the former didn't they?

Dave leaned against John, groaning. It wasn't hard to agree that it sure was boring indoors, but with so much rain going on outside they were stuck overnight at least. Eyes looked over at the clock, 4:36 PM. It was still pretty early.

"Let's just sleep John, I'm tired." suggested Dave.

"Tired?"

"Rainy Days make me tired."

He wrapped his arms around John and pushed him down, he being the big spoon. John turned his head to look up at his friend, rolling his eyes before a yawn escaped. Dave chuckled, declaring that they both needed sleep; a hand reached out and took off John's glasses, setting them on the table.

"Aren't you going to take off yours?" asked John.

He smiled, "Not yet, not until you're dead asleep."

"You'll be dead asleep too."

"Then I'll sleep with it on."

The blue eyed males turned himself, facing Dave's chest. He looked up through his lashes, lips forming a pout. Dave laughed softly, leaning in so their foreheads touched.

"Just go to sleep John." said Dave, "I'm already tired as fuck."

John rubbed his eyes, slowly closing them as he let himself relax in Dave's embrace. Needless to say it was quite comfortable like this, in Dave's arms enraptured in warmth. Long breaths soon blew out of him, sleep taking him over.

Dave gently placed a soft kiss on John's forehead, his own eyes fluttering close a minute after. He needed more days like this with John where they could just relax and literally chill out. If only he could take things up a little step, it'll be just about perfect.

An hour later Mr. Egbert walked in with a tray of cookies and two glasses of milk. His eyes glanced over at his son and his best friend fast asleep on the couch. A sly smile formed on his lips as he chuckled, looks like he's figured something out way beyond John.


	20. Something New

The bell rang and John gathered up his things, picking up his bag to walk out of the classroom with the other students. Most of them were heading off to their next class while John was making his way over to the cafeteria. He had his lunch right after 3rd hour.

As he walked into the cafeteria, there was a bunch of tables set up at a wall of the room. Plants and flowers were lined up on the floor, table, and up against the wall. It was the school's annual Greenhouse sale. John walked past it to walk to his table where Terezi, Equius, and Nepeta were already sitting.

"-ot hungry today Leijon. Go on ahead and grab lunch with Mcsweats here." smiled the sandy blonde.

"Let us go Nepeta. She has already told you she was not hungry." said the dark haired male.

Equius was a tall, tanned, and buff teenager. Over the average line buff for an average Freshman. He could be easily mistaken as a staff member or a regular adult if not for the school bag. His hair was in the process of growing back into it's original length it had been the previous year. Why he had cut his hair in the first place was a mystery to everyone. He was best friends with the small Nepeta Leijon, such a contrast of appearance and personality but everyone does agree they fit together like a puzzle.

John smiled and greeted the three, soon walking with the two best friends to the lunch line. While they were getting their lunches; Karkat, Dave, and Sollux joined Terezi at the table. Small chatter and loud words filled the cafeteria along with the other conversations merging into the noise.

"Dave, I got you an apple." said John sitting next to the blond.

"You know I don't like apples."

Karkat gave Dave a crazy look, lips parting as his eyes focused on the other. Dave loved apple juice, but it was a surprise to hear that he didn't like apples themselves. Was it suppose to be ironic that he liked apple juice but not apples? Is that ironic? He never got the irony shit that Dave pulls.

"That's stupid. You like apple juice but not apples?" said Karkat.

Dave nodded, "Apples just taste weird, apple juice is on a whole 'nother level."

"Is that your irony shit?"

"Nope."

"But-"

"Karkat, I've brought your lunch. You're not being rude to your friends are you? Did you let them tag their triggers?"

A groan escaped from Karkat's mouth as he looked up at his older brother, an almost mirror reflection of him. Kankri set a bagged lunch down on the table that Karkat resided at. The older Vantas insisted that they don't eat school lunch, not knowing what was in the food bothered him and he went out of his way to make sure his brother didn't ingest any of it either.

"It's Big Mouth Senior, haven't seen you around!" grinned Terezi, turning to face the two brothers.

"Very nice to see you too, Terezi Pyrope." said Kankri, "And please, must I remind you it's Kankri."

"Just leave and go sit with the people who pity you too much to even tolerate you." Karkat said pushing his brother off.

"I didn't give you permission to touch me Karkat." said Kankri.

"Leave!"

John smiled and giggled, it was funny to see the two like this when he knew how much they cared for each other. Looks like they both have high prides to keep up, conscious or unconscious is up to interpretation. Karkat eyed John, but the group of girls crowding Dave distracted him from throwing an insult at the bespectacled teen.

"Here Dave."  
"Thank you Dave."  
"It's for you Dave."

Flowers crowded the table. The girls smiled and scurried off to their tables, squealing and chatting with their friends as soon as they got back. Looks like the attention had gotten Dave some admirers.

"Take those off the table, we're eating here." said Karkat digging through his bagged lunch.

"Mad you didn't get any~" chimed Dave looking at the other blond.

John coughed and grabbed his milk, chugging it down to wash away his lunch. Why did that surprise him? It was only Dave making fun at Karkat like usual. Nepeta blinked in awe and whispered something to Terezi, earning a wide grin.

"I'll buy you one if you want one so badly."

"Stop it I'm eating here," chewed Karkat, "And why waste money buying new ones when you already have a shit load."

"It's not going to be ironic."

"And there he goes." groaned the younger Vantas.

Dave smirked and got up, walking over to the sale to do what he had just said. Terezi poked at John's side causing him to perk up from fright and reflex. Blue eyes looked over to red shades and an ear to ear grin. Nepeta peeked over with a small smile, giggling as she turned to talk to Equius.

"Hey John, you jealous?"

His eyes fluttered, mouth opening to retort to her statement, "What?"

"You heard me~ You jealous Dave is buying Karkles flowers?" she said.

"No, of course not," he said, "Why would I? They're flowers. It is kind of dumb for him to buy flowers when he has a good few already though."

Terezi sighed and looked over at Nepeta, poking at her for help to get through John's hard head. Dave really did do good to drill the irony in this kid's head. Or maybe he's just like this naturally, who knows.

Nepeta looked over the table to look at John, eyes glancing to see how much time she had before Dave came back to the table. She had about 3 minutes, so it's time to pull it into speed run. Terezi switched spots with her.

"John~~" she cooed, "Okay, listen to me. Dave is over there buying flowers for Karkitty right. It seems like a nice gesture, but wouldn't he had asked if you would like some too?"

"..Uhh..."

"He would! Unless he's trying to do something special just for Karkitty." she said, "I mean look at it this way, he immediately used a tactic to have to buy Karkat a flower. A tactic in which he couldn't pull out of."

"Nepeta-"

"Just watch Dave. Trust me, something's going on and as his best friend and Karkat's friend, you need to keep an eye out." smiled the smaller girl, switching seats with Terezi right after.

The dark haired male perked his lips out, wondering on Nepeta's words. He knew she was into the kind of romance things just as Karkat was, but she was more social on it. More active. It couldn't mean anything though, maybe Terezi couldn't think of anything to say?

"Here."

John looked at Dave handing Karkat a small bundle of red forget-me-nots. Karkat stared down at the red bundle, cautiously taking it from the other blond's hands. Dave had a look of satisfaction when Karkat scoffed and set them carefully beside him; John watched the whole transaction, lips parting. A small twinge in his chest forming. He 'casually' looked away, giving a breath and pursed his lips.

"I'm not thanking you for these."

"Didn't expect one."

"I thought you said you'd buy one."

"There was a deal," said Dave, "Got the red ones specially for you too."

Maybe...Nepeta and Terezi had an idea on what they were talking about.

The buses were off and on their way to drop off the many kids home from a long school day. John stood at the pillar where he and Dave always met after school. It was odd. This time it was Dave who was late, which only happens rarely. As rare as a blue moon.

He stood awkwardly, hands squeezing the straps to his backpack. The halls were empty, there wasn't anyone watching him or anyone with him for all that matter but he still felt unsettled. Standing alone when he knew he was suppose to be long gone felt weird. He bit his bottom lip and started to walk towards the entrance of the school, exiting the building to walk home.

"John!"

Dave ran through the doors, over to John who had stopped. John looked at him confused but relieved, he didn't have to walk that section of the way home he usually spent talking to the other alone. The blond panting, catching his breath before talking.

"Left without me huh."

"You took too long." said John.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, sorry," laughed Dave, "But I had to get this."

Dave revealed a bouquet of fully bloomed roses. A ring of lavender circling a ring of light pink, which circled pink, then red. What made the most stand out was a single blue rose in the center of everything. It was wrapped in white paper tied with a red ribbon fading to white near the ends. The bunch could easily be seen as a 24 flower bouquet.

John stared in awe, blinked a few times as to make sure he wasn't imagining things. It was huge and most likely expensive. Blue eyes looked at the blond with surprise, he was scratching his cheek sheepishly with a grin to match.

"Dave you..." he trailed.

"Take it man," he said, "It's for you."

Hands went to carefully grab a hold of the flowers, bringing it up to his chest. It was beautiful, the color scheme was odd, but it fit. Especially with the blue rose contrasting in the center. John smiled and gave a small, short laugh of happiness. His stomach fluttered, cheeks slowly heating up.

"It's amazing Dave." smiled John.

"Heh, always the best for my best bro. Saw you looking at lunch and thought I'd make it up."

"A-Ah, you really didn't have to..."

"Sure I did," said Dave, "You deserve the best."

"Well...So do you Dave. Now c'mon, I wanna get these in a vase before they start to wilt."


	21. Forget-me-nots

The sounds of pencil scratching on paper, the bed creaking, papers shuffling, and deep sighs encircled the two boys, John and Karkat. It was another study session, this time for a science test that was coming up. Their second to last unit before everything starts to revolve around finals which for sure is going to gain multiple sessions. Karkat had left John to do some problems he had just helped him understand a few minutes back.

"You would add the negative one to eighty-eight right?" asked John.

"Mhm, then you'd bring over the mass number and find the element on the Periodic Table," said Karkat, eyes glued on his homework.

John looked up at Karkat, who had his back to him. Science wasn't his strongest subject, neither was it Karkat's but he seemed to be doing it like it was drilled into his DNA. He sighed and set his pencil down, his head leaning against the palm of his left hand; Dave was busy, so he couldn't join him and Karkat.

The dark haired teen's lips pouted as he rolled his pencil on his paper, he's been attached to Dave for the last 5 years. It wasn't like Dave always had to be with him, but it felt weird without having the blond beside him. How was it for Dave when he wasn't there with him? Does he feel the same? Does he even think about it?

"Hey!"

Karkat had threw an eraser at the other's head, knocking him out of his daze. The blond stared at him annoyed, apparently he had been calling John's name for the past minute. He clicked his tongue and turned back to continue to work on his homework only to be interrupted by John.

"You still have the forget-me-nots Dave got you," pointed out John.

On the Vantas' desk, a small vase holding the red forget-me-nots sat in the corner. Karkat blinked and turned back to look at John who was staring at the vase with content, an odd look in his eyes that he's never seen before. He scratched the back of his neck and confirmed the statement. John has never pointed out anything in his room but his still growing RomCom collection.

"Kankri said since someone so willingly went out of their way to buy me flowers I should keep them for as long as they can last," said Karkat, "It was no use trying to fight back, he had already grabbed them from my hands."

"Yeah..." trailed John, "Do you like them?"

"Eh...I mean...I guess? They're flowers."

"Hmmn."

John readjusted his glasses, picked up his pencil, and started to work on his homework; Karkat stared at the other confused. It was weird for John to just go quiet all of a sudden without a reason. The blond rolled his eyes and turned to continue on his homework.

Another few minutes of silence and John's eyes were back looking at the vase of red flowers. Red is Dave's favorite color. His pencil stopped moving as he was yet again distracted, thoughts of what Nepeta had said to him just a few days ago troubled him.

What if he was trying to do something special? It was ironic, it was something he could pull off...Were flowers romantic? It couldn't be-they're plants. And even if they were, Dave bought him flowers too...A big bouquet, it was very pretty but the color scheme can use more work.

...

The thoughts were swirling around in his head, it was hard to concentrate with Dave slowly invading his mind. Whatever Dave's business is is his business though...

Dave did kiss John.

His heart jumped and his stomach fluttered, head burying into the grey sheet covered mattress. He hadn't thought of the kiss in about three weeks. It still made him feel...What was the word? Happy? No more than happy, euphoric.

"What the fuck is wrong with you John? You're even more spaced out than usual." groaned Karkat.

Blue eyes peeked over at the Norwegian; he knew he was blushing, he could feel it hot on his face. There were muffled words which irritated the other. What was John's problem? If he needed help he would have already made obvious indications.

"If science homework is fucking you up this badly then stop," huffed Karkat.

"It's not the science homework." John had his head up now.

"Then what is it?"

"...It's the vase."

Karkat blinked, "The vase...The vase of flowers?"

"Yeah."

With a sigh, the blond got up and grabbed the vase. He went over to the bookshelf and placed it on the highest shelf he could reach, turning around he stared at John with an "are you happy now?" expression on his face. The other smiled sheepishly, a look of guilt and embarrassment on his face. He hasn't meant for Karkat to actually move the vase.

"S-Sorry Karkat, I-"

"No it's nothing, wanted to move that thing anyways," interrupted Karkat.

John bit his bottom lip and stared down at his homework, he caused a small bit of trouble that wasn't even funny. But the flowers bugged him. Just having the knowledge that it came from Dave himself...

"Can we take a break Karkat? I'm not feeling it right now." John sat up, stretching his arms.

Karkat sighed and set his pencil down, "Sure, not like I was getting far anyway."


	22. Surprise^2

It was 56 degrees on a bright Saturday afternoon; at the Strider residence, two boys stood over a turntable and a pile of papers. The blond had his headphones on around his neck, fingers on the instrument, and eyes over at his friend. John was flipping through papers, looking at the scribble of words and phrases. Currently, Dave was in the attempt of teaching John how to freestyle rap...Though there was little process.

They've been at it for the past hour and John couldn't get his guts up enough to actually fulfill a sentence without stuttering or stopping. Dave had given him at least 10 examples already, getting ready for an 11th. There wasn't anything hard about freestyle rapping, all you gotta do is make it flow with the beat and not say some fuck shit that'll be caught on camera. Easy.

Dave was about to say something when the doorbell rung through the apartment complex. His older brother wasn't home, which wasn't surprising, so he said a quick thing to John before walking over to the door to see who it was. He didn't have other friends that would know where he lived so this was new to him.

"If you're Girl Scouts selling cookies I-"

Right outside the door was a robotic rabbit with a blue silhouette of a rabbit's head on its chest. What stood out was the infamous pointed shades it wore. The rabbit handed the Strider a note in which he took.

The note read, "Guess who - D-Stri and Pumpkin"

"...John!" shouted Dave.

What!?" Replied John.

"Looks like you get to meet more dysfunctional family members."

John walked out from the hallway, a confused look on his face. Was Rose here? Was he finally going to meet Rose? This should be interesting. The two boys took the elevator down; the robotic rabbit was down their waiting for them. It motioned for them to follow, walking through and out the lobby. Dave shrugged and walked forward with John close behind.

"A robot rabbit?" questioned John.

"Might as well be." Dave scanned the open area of the apartment building. His guests weren't in sight, not yet at least.

"Uhh..." trailed John.

There was a small gust of wind and a tap on both of their shoulders, they both turned around and saw the two older boys behind them. One blond and dark brunet, equivalent to the younger boys. John blinked at the older blond behind him, he wore pointed shades and had a face just like Dave; the other older boy wore rectangular, black rimmed glasses, green eyes, and hair similarly styled to John.

"So this is John," said D-Stri.

"So this is Jake," said Dave.

"My, I do see the resemblance. It's a wonder on how you two aren't brothers." Jake looked between the two cousins.

"You can call us "stepbrothers" if you want to delve into the whole genetics and family tree." The older blond walked over to his cousin and placed a hand on his hip.

"It's eerily terrifying on how our tastes are like...About the same," commented Dave, looking between John and Jake.

The two dark haired males were almost the same; the glasses, the hair, the shorts they're coincidently wearing, and that's only appearance wise. Jake was chattering away with John, talking about something the cousins couldn't exactly hear. Obviously they're much like each other as the eye can see.

"Let's just go inside, it's hot as hell out here." Dave went over and grabbed John, dragging him back inside the building.

"Much like you he is Dirk," commented Jake.

Dirk playfully punched the other and followed his younger cousin; Jake laughed and ran after him inside. They caught the elevator up with the younger boys, riding up while introducing themselves properly inside. John's blue eyes shone with admiration as he listened to Dirk, he's just like the perfect older brother figure.

Back in the Strider apartment complex, the four sat in the living room. Dirk was playing around with the smuppets that we're laying around; Dave stared at him with horror, obviously terrifyingly confused on how content he was with the thing. The two dark haired boys continued their conversation from outside that was interrupted. From a bystanders eye you would think they're brothers hanging out with each other, though there are two members missing.

"Where's Bro?" asked Dirk.

"The hell should I know? He leaves and comes as he pleases, I don't give a damn," responded Dave.

"Can't believe he's still your legal guardian."

"Can't believe how much you look like him."

"Can't believe how much you look like my Bro," said Dirk.

John looked over at Dave and reached over for him, nervous about an argument breaking out; Dave looked and smiled, hand "making an effort" to reach back. Blue eyes rolled and he scooted over to him. Jake moved over to sit next to Dirk only to be pulled into his lap.

"If you guys came from New York, where are you guys staying?" asked John.

"My Bro got a condo for Jake and I," said Dirk.

"A place to yourselves?"

"We're graduating next year, so why not? He's paying for everything anyways."

"Amazing!" exclaimed John.

"Talking about next school year; Rose, Kanaya, and Roxy are hitching a ride over here too. Roomies with Rox."

"Is everyone moving over here now? Got a problem with my love life?" said Dave.

"...My half sister is moving here too," added Jake.

"John make it stoooooop," whined Dave.

The blond grabbed onto the blue eyed male's arm, shaking him gently. It was a surprise on how he couldn't ask John to be his boyfriend with all the moves he's played already. They're also so close it wouldn't really make a difference if they were dating or not.

Jake giggled as he watched the two, head resting on Dirk's shoulder. They aren't as energetic as John and Dave, but they were close. Dirk gave a short chuckle as he wrapped his arms around the green eyes boy, his cousin and John are admirable.

Dirk propped his chin on Jake's shoulder, "Sooo~ You and John?"

"Dirk your shade are in the way-" said Jake.

Dave stopped mid sentence and looked over at Dirk who had a small grin on his face. He pointed a finger towards him and opened his mouth to protest but caught himself. His secret about crushing on John wasn't out to anyone in his circle of friends yet, obvious to Karkat and Nepeta though.

"C'mon John, we need to practice freestyle rapping some more." Dave grabbed John's hand and pulled him up, walking them both back to his room.

"Wait-What? Dave!-" exclaimed John.

The two were out of sight, leaving Dirk and Jake alone in the living room. Jake smiled and looked up at the blond, "Quite interesting don't you think?"

"Very, though what's taking him so damn long to ask?" said Dirk.

"Like you're to talk," laughed Jake, "but maybe he wants to make it special."

Dirk brought a smuppet up to the dark brunet's face and smushed it against him. A small yelp and laugh emitted from Jake as he pushed away the puppet. The plush gave out a small squeak which caused a short silence to ring through out the room, they weren't expecting it to make any noises.

"...Don't mock me," said Dirk to Jake.

"Wasn't trying to, it was a compliment," Jake grabbed the smuppet and set it on the floor, looking up and pulling Dirk's head down to meet his, their eyes staring at each other's, "Because you really did make it special."


	23. They're...

Two weeks into summer vacation and the two boys were already bored out of their minds with nothing to do or keep them busy; video games have been finished, stupid pranks have been played, they even went into town to just walk around. The fan was on, blowing slight cool air in both of their direction. Dave was lying atop of John's legs as the other laid on the mattress staring up at the blurred ceiling. Mid-day was the hottest time of any day with the sun high up in the sky and the breeze not blowing strong enough to keep cool.

John was dozing off, his glasses set aside on his nightstand. There wasn't anything else to do, so a nap wouldn't hurt; they were on break anyways, nothing exciting was happening. He closed his eyes, a burning sensation starting to drift in and out. The soft sound of the whirring fan lulled him into a state of relaxation. Dave had been quiet too lately.

A minute passed, then five. It seemed that everything was all clear until a loud spasm of music scared both blond and black haired teen. John sat upright and Dave rolled off the blue eyed male's legs to reach over for his phone, both catching their breath for a few seconds. The original Washington boy held his chest as he sighed and flopped back down on his bed while his friend spoke to whoever was on the other end of the call.

"Yo John, let's hop over to Dirk's place," said Dave looking over at John.

"Why?" asked John.

"He's throwing a pool party, and cause the girls are finally here."

"Really!?" exclaimed John.

He has heard a few stories from Dirk and Jake about Rose, Kanaya, and Roxy. The girls sounded like cool people and to be meeting them so soon and finally was enough to shoot the life back into the bespectacled boy. Grabbing his glasses, he placed them on his face and slid off the bed to look for his swimming trunks. Dave continued to lay on the bed, watching John rummage through his dresser.

Eyes watched the other boy lazily, but mind focusing on him with high alert. A pool party, a valid excuse to see John in only swim trunks. The blond smiled and rolled around on the bed, face burying into the covers. Sometimes he loved Dirk for moments like these.

"W-Wait this is a condo!?" exclaimed John as they stood in front of the white colored house.

"Yeah." Dave knocked on the door.

"But aren't condos like, apartments or whatever?"

"Ahah, it's my... Brother. Of course he's going to buy a private condo for Dirk and Jake," said Dave.

The door opened revealing a fairly pale teenage girl. She had short, platinum blond hair with a black headband on. Her lips were painted black and her eyes were a hue of purple. The bespectacled teen looked with awe as he looked between her and Dave, it was Rose for sure.

"It's been too long Dave."

"No proper 'David' this time?" questioned Dave as he walked in.

"I thought you didn't like being called David."

"I don't."

John pursed his lips before hurrying in behind Dave; when they spoke it definitely changed the air around them. One second it'll be perfectly fine, the next it was a bit intimidating before switching back only to feel like they were children again a second later. His eyes looked back at Rose who was locking the door.

Looking around the room, there was another girl sitting on the couch. She had short black hair and green eyes, her skin was a nice olive tan. Her top lip was painted black while the bottom was a dark green. her posture was also very proper. John blinked as she stared, bumping into Dave a few seconds later.

"Where's Rox?" asked Dave.

"She's already in the back with Jake, Dirk's still changing... Oh I hope you don't mind, a few other friends are over as well." Rose walked over to the black haired girl on the couch and sat next to her. They were both already wearing their swimwear.

Dave told John that he can change in the bathroom while he changed in Dirk's when he finished, John nodded and went in the bathroom. Thoughts swirling around in his head as he did so. There are other people here that he didn't know, great he was going to make a fool of himself for sure. How are they like? Would they like him? With his glasses on the counter, he rubbed his eyes while sighing.

Stepping out of the bathroom, he went back into the living room where only Rose and the other girl was. He pursed his lips as he stood there awkwardly. It's only Dave's half-sister, there can't be anything to be afraid of. John slowly walked closer to them, gaining their attention and smiles.

"You must be Johnathan," smiled Rose.

"John," said John, "And yeah, I- Wait how do you?"

"From Dave of course."

"Oh...Right."

"This is Kanaya." Rose pointed over to the tanned girl.

His blue eyes flickered over to the other, a name to finally go with a face. She was pretty, like a model. He smiled and held out a hand for her to take, it was the polite thing to do after all. She smiled and grabbed his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," grinned John.

"Likewise John," replied Kanaya.

Rose stood up, taking Kanaya's hand and pulled her towards the back door. John followed the two, being met with a few other people chatting away in the sun. There was a tall blonde talking to Jake, and a set of fraternal twins in the pool. Three people, that wasn't too bad.

"Those bunch Striders are awfully taking a long time," sighed Rose.

"Bunch?" questioned John, "I thought Dave and Dirk were the only ones left."

The purple eyed blond chuckled, "Striders always will be unpredictable."

"What do you-"

Before John could finish his sentence, the backdoor opened revealing four figures. He turned to look and his eyes widened, a hot blush forming on his face. There stood the full brother set of the Striders; Dirk's brother, Dave's brother, Dirk and Dave. His lips parted as he stared at the group, eyes flickering between them all, but lingered on Dave. His tone, pale body, light freckles decorating his shoulders.

Dave looked over at John and smirked, gaining a ego boost. He walked over to his best friend and placed a hand on his hip; his eyes sized John up, making sure to keep this image in his mind for a long time. Flushed face, bare body, what seems to be possible interest.

"D-Dave...So uhh..." stuttered John as he rubbed his arms.

"Yeah, my other bro," pointed Dave.

"He looks exactly like you while your bro looks exactly like Dirk."

"Weird isn't it."

John nodded but smiled, looking around at the other guests here. The blonde that was talking to Jake was now screaming with joy, tackling Dirk with a hug. He giggled as he watched the two, seems like she's excited to see Dirk.

"They're not dating if that's what you're thinking," said Dave.

"They're not?" asked John.

The blond shook his head, "No, just long time friends like us."

Friends. Lately that word has been bugging the dark haired teen, a queasy feeling appears in his stomach whenever mentioned. John shook his head and focused his sight on the three. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Jake and Dirk quite touchy.

Dirk's arms were wrapped around Jake's waist, lips kissing down his neck. Jake, flustered, tried to fight back the other but stood helpless as he was getting taken down with fluttered kisses. The blonde teen that was there was cheering on Dirk with slight slurred words, her eyes shining with joy.

"Wh-Wha-" stuttered John as he glanced at Dave who was also staring at the two.

"Oh right...Didn't tell you they're dating..." trailed the young blond as he looked at John.

"Dating..."

"Yeah? What'd you think? That they were literal 'just friends'?"

"...Yes." John scratched the back of his head as he looked at the loving couple, it was cool that they were dating. The two looked comfortably open about their affections as well. It was kind of like looking at a future image of...Dave and him.

Dave arched a brow as he glanced at John who was still looking at his brother and Jake. Did John not feel comfortable? Was this weirding him out? He perked his lips out as he looked back at his brother, it literally does look like something he and John could be.

If it's possible.


	24. Can I?

Summer whizzed through like a breeze, one moment it was two weeks into summer vacation, the next it was already the end of July. Currently the two boys were sitting in Dave's room listening to some test music Dave was processing; John sat besides the blond and toyed with a few things before Dave could swat his hand away. The two spent their summer together stuck like glue, becoming even closer than before. After spending much quality time with each other this particular summer, John had grow comfortable with holding hands with Dave. Dare say it had grown to become a new habit.

Dave spoke while his beats were slowly coming to his liking as he flipped switches and pressed buttons, having to readjust the things John messed with when he wasn't looking. He smiled when he finally finished a section of a piece, turning to John he lent an earbud for John to take. The other took it out of his grasp and plugged it in.

"Ready to have your mind blown?" grinned Dave.

"As ready as every other time," said John.

The blond started up the music and they both listened; John couldn't help but smile, Dave's music always made him happy. Hard beats and soft flows intermingled, ringing through both of their ears. Though no lyrics had been made along with it yet you can feel the kind of message that's being sent.

John leaned to the side, his hand supporting him up. A soft section turned on in the music, bass lowered and a more soft, stringy type of feel waved in. As he listened, the feeling of Dave's hand resting atop of his own shocked him back to reality. The hand was warm as it always is, a comforting feeling. He glanced over at Dave who was looking down at his turn table, probably thinking of ways to improve on this current song.

Blue eyes blinked as he dove into his own thoughts as well. As of late, strange thoughts and ideas trailed in. Thoughts of him and Dave. Thoughts of the kiss on his birthday. Thoughts on Dirk and Jake's relationship. On his and Dave's own relationship. He wasn't a homosexual though, so these thoughts were confusing him. John had nothing against homosexuals, they are people too, but to think of himself as one...Was hard to see.

"John." Dave's voice snapped the other out of his thoughts.

"Yeah Dave?" answered John.

"...Can I kiss you?"

Dave's sudden question shocked John, causing him to whip his head to look at him. A pink tint dusted his cheeks. Dave kiss him again? His mouth opened to say something, but the words got caught in his throat. He was going to retort the question, make fun of the question, say anything to make the question seem funny but nothing came out...Because he wouldn't mind another kiss.

Soft, broken noises emitted from John mouth as he continued to look at his best friend flustered. What could he say? No? But that's not what he wanted to say. Yes? What would Dave think of him if he said yes?

A hand came up to unplug the earbud from John's ear, cupping his face immediately after. The albino parted his lips and leaned in, gently pressing their lips together. He gently sucked on John's bottom lip, gaining a surprised gasp; the bespectacled teen leaned back, letting Dave climb on top of him. Both of their hearts raced as the kiss went on, Dave tilting his head to avoid fogging their glasses.

John's hand reached up soon clinging onto Dave's shirt, his other hand raked into Dave's platinum blond hair. The dark haired teen desperately tried to keep up with Dave, mouth opening letting the other's tongue snake in. Things started to heat up, which fogged his glasses, but that was the last of his problems.

"Fuck this," grumbled Dave as he pulled back, taking off his shades before crushing his lips back together against Johns.

"Nnhh~"

The grip of John's hands tightened on Dave as the kiss deepened. His eyes cracked open, only to see Dave's closed eyes through his fogged glasses. Everything at that moment felt perfect, exhilarating, pure bliss. If possible, his heart could burst out of his chest from the adrenaline and excitement.

Soon after, Dave pulled away panting, eyes staring down at his best friend's red face. His heart was racing and body hot. He could see John's blue eyes opening, letting him know that he needed to slip on his shades before he fucks up his biggest secret. Dave remained sitting on John, catching his breath as his eyes lingered on John who took off his own glasses.

"I...I gotta go piss," said Dave as he hurriedly got off of John and scurried away to the bathroom.

Alone in the bedroom now, he sat up staring at the open door. Taking his glasses, he wiped them clean and clear with his shirt before placing them back on his face. John continued to stare at the open door, thoughts lingering around in his mind; his hands reached up to gently touch his parted lips which still held the feel of Dave's lips.

I'm not a homosexual.

I think.


	25. New Girl

September 5th. 7:20 AM. School. Yes, school was back in session and everyone wasn't too happy on the idea. John rubbed his eyes as he said goodbye to Aradia. He trudged into the school, going towards his new locker, which wasn't that far from his other one. Placing his new folders and supplies in the holder, he yawned. Being back in the school setting was both heartwarming, yet dreadful.

There was a soft knock on the locker door, looking behind it revealed a disheveled platinum blond who didn't look too happy about coming back to school either. John gave a small smile and laugh, seeing Dave here brightened up his day a bit. The blond rolled his eyes and leaned against the lockers, a hand coming to cover the yawn that escaped his mouth.

"C'mon John, Dirk wants us all to meet Jake's sister," said Dave.

"Oh, yeah right. I forgot she was coming here," replied John as he shut his locker.

The two walked through the crowded entrance hall and to the library where everyone crowded near the bookcases. Upon advancing, they saw a girl their age. She had long black hair and green eyes, skin tone a nice tan just like Jake, circular glasses rested upon her face. Rose and said girl were greeting each other until the blonde caught sight of Dave.

"Nice of you to finally join us Dave, John," smiled Rose.

"Yeah, yeah, don't give me that tone." Dave strolled over to the crowd standing next to Dirk. John stood beside the blond, a soft smile on his face as he observed the new girl.

"They do look alike," said the green eyed girl.

"Told you," said Jake.

The girl walked up to the boys and smiled, "Hi~ My name's Jade Harley."

"I'm John."

"Dave Strider."

Jade spoke with her brother as another blond stood besides John, Karkat. He surprisingly looked fine this school morning despite the slight tired look that was on his face. The dark haired boy turned and smiled at his friend, telling him what was going on.

The Norwegian pursed his lips as his eyes lingered on Jade, a discomforted look in his eyes as he observed her talking to Dave. He blinked a few times before facing John, eyes glancing at Nepeta who was nearby. Hands went to rest on his hips as he shook his head.

"What's wrong?" asked John.

"I can see some horrible things happening and I don't like it," said Karkat, "I'll talk to you later."

John blinked a few times as he watched Karkat walk off, soon talking animatedly with Nepeta. He arched a brow before looking back into the crowd of friends; his circle of friends has never been this big before. It was nice.

John walked into the lunchroom, his bagged lunch in his had as he look around to find anyone he felt comfortable eating. It just so happened Dave shared the same lunch period, which was a huge relief, but beside him sat Jade Harley. He smiled as he walked over to them, sitting on the other side of his best friend.

"Hi Dave, hi Jade," smiled John.

"Hey bro," said Dave.

"Hi John!" smiled Jade.

"You didn't get a lunch Dave?" asked John to the blond.

"Not today no, was just going to munch off of you."

"You're lucky my dad pumps out sweets like a factory."

"Oh- Dave I forgot one part!" said Jade as she was trying to recall part of her story that she was telling Dave.

Dave turned back to listen to Jade, a small forced smile curled on his lips as he looked at her. Now he was no jerk, it's rude not to listen to a person. He let Jade talk, telling her stories of living on an island with her grandfather. The story are interesting, that's no lie, he'd just rather talk with John.

"Hey, we're sitting here."

The dark haired male looked up and saw Karkat with Kanaya. He smiled and nodded, telling them to go right on ahead. The two friends sat next to John, continuing their discussion. Looking next to him, it looked like he was the only one without anyone to talk to. He looked down at his lunch and began to eat.

No more than 10 minutes later did Karkat poke John, catching his attention. The Norwegian's red eyes locked onto Jade and Dave, a murderous look in his eyes. John gave a small smile as he asked Karkat if something was bothering him.

"Bothering me? Oh no John I poked you just to piss you off, of course something is bothering me," said Karkat.

"Well what is it?" asked John.

"Don't you see that?" Karkat moved his head at the other two student's direction.

Arching an eyebrow, John glanced at his two conversing friends. They have been talking this whole time...Jade has anyway. Looking back at Karkat, he nodded.

"Yeah, so?"

"You haven't spoken to Dave at all haven't you?"

"I did, when I came over to sit here." said John.

"And after that?"

John stopped and thought, no he hasn't spoken to Dave after he came to sit over here. It wasn't weird though, he was talking to Jade; she was new and the only friends she had was their small circle of people so if course she'll stick with them. Though it was weird on how she wasn't talking to him at all.

"No," replied John.

"After all Nepeta and I have talked about," mumbled Karkat as he moved to face Kanaya.

"What? What's wrong with it?" asked John.

"Nothing, nothing," said Karkat, "This time, you figure this out on your own."


	26. Sorry bro

After a month of school starting, things started to settle down. A routine back in progress, though for a certain blond things weren't going the way he thought it would. Ever since his brother's boyfriend's sister, Jade Harley, had transferred to their school she's been taking up all of his time. Literally. In the mornings, during lunches, holding him on after class ended; maybe it was because she was the only one she felt comfortable with, but surely she had other friends to hang out with too.

Dave gave a weak smile as he listened to Jade drone on about something he couldn't care less about. It was a Friday, their last class as well, he had planned to hang out with John this weekend and attempt to make up for a month's loss of time. His eyes glanced up at the clock, there was a few minutes left of class. He started to pack his things, hoping he could excuse himself before Jade could hold him back.

"Oh- Look Jade I gotta...Class is almost over-"

"-It is! Oh I'll get my things then I can tell you the time..." said Jade.

A soft sigh escaped Dave's lips as he looked to the side, great it looks like she's insisting they walk together too. She's a good girl, she is but she's been...Overbearing. There's only been a few times when he could get away from here and that was with the help of Karkat and sometimes Jake himself; he'd have to thank them some time.

The bell rang and Dave shot up in his seat, startling Jade. He gave a small smile and a quick goodbye before he dashed out of the door leaving the green eyed girl in confusion. He maneuvered through the hallway down to the library where he panted and stood to wait for John, hopefully John got here quick so they could leave. He raised his shades to rub his eyes, exhaustion clearly in his eyes.

"Dave!"

The albino softly groaned as he knew who it was. He turned and saw the girl nearing him; she ran over, adjusting her glasses as she got to him. Jade smiled and giggled as she caught her breath, complimenting on how fast he ran out of the classroom, a forced smile curled on his lips as he said a short thank you. If only he knew where John's last class was, he could just meet him there.

"Oh look who it is, the cool kid's newest, biggest fan."

Karkat and John had walked upon them, the doe eyed teen looked over at the albino. His lips were parted as he stayed silent; it's been a while since the two had a full conversation or even hung out with each other properly so things felt awkward. Dave gave a small wave over at John who just smiled softly. The space between them had grown as wide as the Grand Canyon.

Jade had turned to retort to Karkat's statement; Karkat looked at Dave and tilted his head at John before arguing back at the girl. The albino moved away from her and walked over to John who was tugging at the hem of his shirt, Dave felt guilty for how distant John felt from him. He gave a smile and a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Hey, hangin' out with Lil' McShouty now?" said Dave.

"Oh, yeah. You've been busy so I've been helping Karkat study and all," replied John.

"Well enough studying man, I'm coming over to your place this weekend to hangout."

"Ah well-"

"I can't stand you!" exclaimed Jade as she huffed.

"If you understand that much, then that's probably how Dave feels about you," said Karkat.

She gasped and looked at Dave, who paid no mind to her as he continued to talk to John. The girl crossed her arms and huffed, staring back at Karkat furious; Dave didn't feel that way about her, he enjoyed her company, he listened to her stories and hung out with her. Jade raised her head as she went over to Dave and held onto his arm.

"Come on Dave, let's visit our brothers then we can hang out with Rose and everyone," she smiled.

John held onto his shirt and pulled on it as he smiled up at his...Best friend. It was good that Dave was expanding his circle of friends, though he couldn't help but wish it had stayed with just he and Dave. Maybe they can hang out next weekend, there's always that possibility. As he thought, a wave of sorrow and a foreign feeling washed over him.

"It's okay Dave, you should hang out with your brother and sister," smiled John, "They're family, I can wait."

No. No it's not okay.

"John-"

"The buses will hold us back if we don't leave now," said Jade.

Jade please-

Dave glanced at her and sighed, "Sorry bro."

The two walked away, Jade chattering away once again. Hands stuffed itself into pockets and eyebrows scrunched together. The girl was really getting on him, even if she might become his new sister or whatever. He sighed softly as he looked back at Karkat and John.

"Let him fuck around," said Karkat.

"But Karkat..." trailed John.

"Look John, if you don't take action he'll be gone. Do something before it's too late."


	27. Break

Before anyone knew it October came, which meant Halloween. People were chattering about that year's Halloween dance; planning out their costumes for the contest, rummaging up the courage to ask their person of choice to the dance, the volunteers planning out the layout of for the gym. The school was hyped up for the upcoming holiday as it did every year.

John was sitting idly at his desk, it was last hour of the day before Halloween broke out for everyone. A solemn look on his face as he doodled on his paper; a certain albino lingered in his mind making its way out through said doodles. He wasn't going to the dance like last year, there wasn't a point in going. There really wasn't a point in going last year either but he went anyways because...Dave was with him.

It's been about two months since he and Dave had hung out, the days stretching out longer for John without the company of the other. Quiet days felt odd; the blue eyed teen was so used to the soft tapping, inaudible mumbling, and regular chatter Dave produced. What was he to do though? He's been hanging out with his immediate family, and family is quite important.

The bell rang, snapping John out of his daze; he got up and packed his things before walking out. Walking pass Karkat's last hour, he saw that the other wasn't there and left early. Holding his backpack straps, he walked down towards the exit only to be stopped by a breathless Dave.

"Dave?" John questioned arching a brow.

"Yo," Dave smiled sheepishly.

"What're you doing here?"

"Coming to catch you before you do anything else tonight."

"What do you mean?"

Dave gave a small chuckle, the kind of laugh that the other hadn't heard in such a long time; it made his heart twinge just hearing it. Grabbing John's hand, the blond dragged John out of the school and bolted down the street towards his apartment complex. He was finally free from Jade's grasp, using this time to have John all to himself finally.

"D-Dave!" exclaimed John.

"What?" questioned Dave.

"STOP!"

The albino came to a stop, lips parting as he turned to look at a dying, out of breath teen. The tone of John's voice was strained, forced, reluctant. What was wrong with John? Maybe he needed to catch his breath or maybe tell his dad first. Whatever the reason, it sounded like John didn't enjoy what he just did which is explainable.

John looked up at Dave, a voice in the back of his head telling himself to stop whatever he was about to say. Standing up with a hand on his chest, he took a few last deep breaths. With the time away from Dave, he's given some thought into their friendship; normal friends don't usually kiss each other, or do the things they've done with each other.

It wasn't natural.

"I...I'm busy...Tonight," said John.

"...What?" questioned Dave.

"I'm busy- my dad needs me at home and-and-"

"-I understand."

There was a minute of silence, an inaudible crack in the air broke between them. John tugged at the end of his shirt as he stared at his best friend, it pained him to break off his one chance at hanging out with Dave but it felt...Like the best thing to do.

The bespectacled teen opened his mouth to say something, but was again interrupted by Dave raising his hand to stop him. A small smile curled on the albino's lips before he turned to walk away. John pursed his lips together as he watched, heart dropping.

"Dave..."


	28. Dad

It was Thanksgiving break, the one holiday where John's dad cooked other things instead of sweets as a majority. Currently, John stood in the kitchen watching his dad from the counter in which he sat on, head whirring with thoughts and outrageous scenarios. He hadn't seen Dave at school for almost a whole month, actively avoiding him the first two weeks but it seems Dave was actively avoiding him as well.

Mr. Egbert arose from his crouched position in front of the oven and looked over at his son who had a somber expression. His eyebrows scrunched together as he took the pipe away from his lips and sighed softly. He hasn't seen Dave over at their place in the longest time, which was odd, the boy was over nearly everyday of the week whether he walked John home or stayed over for a few.

"John." said Mr. Egbert

"Yes, Dad?" perked John, awakened from his devastating imagination.

"Say, I haven't seen David over. Why don't you invite him over tomorrow."

John's lips parted as he stared at his dad. If only he could, if only he had the courage to. He gave a strained smile and nodded, saying he'll try to convince him on such short notice. Jumping off the counter, he walked over to the living room and looked at the urn that held his Nanna's ashes. Maybe she'd understand what he might be going through.

This situation, now that he thought for a bit, had been going on for quite some time; he traced it back to his birthday where the both of them shared their first kiss. The memory brought John's hand up to softly touch his lips, a warm sensation started to burn at the pit of his stomach. He shook his head and sat on the couch where he pinched the bridge of his nose; he was frustrated with everything.

"Why..." he groaned softly as he followed through the details after his birthday. The following day with Karkat with the words that he had told him, "You have sealed your damn fate John. This is it. That's your whole life right in that damn boy." Was what Karkat said true? Did a simple kiss really seal his fate with Dave. It didn't feel like it.

"What would you like for dessert, John?" The blue eyed teen looked up at his dad who was standing in the door way of the kitchen and living room, an apron around his dad's clothes and his sleeves rolled up a bit above his elbows.

"I don't really mind. I mean, you bake sweets everyday. Whatever you make is sure to be great." smiled John.

The older man smiled softly as he nodded, moving back into the kitchen where a lone cupcake rested on the counter, cooling. He has naught of an idea of what might be going on between his son and Dave, but one thing for sure is John was struggling with himself. And he knew why.

Lined colors of red, white and black frosting laid in pouches in front of him as he quickly went to work. The struggles his son is having is something he shouldn't meddle with too much, but if a small push, poke, and nudge will bring him upon the right path then that is something he holds personal responsibility for. A life struggle isn't the end of everything.

Soon after Mr. Egbert was done decorating the cupcake, he set it on a small plate and walked back over to the doorway connecting the kitchen and living room; John was lying flat on the sofa softly talking to himself, a habit he's seen Dave do quite often. He smiled and took a step towards John, calling his name once more to catch his attention.

John looked up, seeing his dad holding a plate with a cupcake; he sat up to make room for his dad, hand going to up fix his hair. He felt his dad sit beside him and looked at his guardian, there was a soft look in his eyes; a loving look, but something more, something indescribable to him. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Mr. Egbert spoke up.

"Here, have a snack. Dinner will take a while." he told John.

"Oh- yeah. Thanks." said John, taking the plate from his dad into his lap not paying any mind to what his dad gave him per usual.

"Are things going well at school?" asked the older male.

The younger Egbert gently pursed his lips as he looked down to contemplate. Things at school were okay...Boring...Lonely. He hung out with Karkat but without Dave nothing felt the same. No snide remarks or sly jokes, no sudden bursts of laugher or soft mumbling of self rants or lyrics, no more soft taps of beats or the comforting warmth Dave's hand.

"You know how school is, not good but not bad either." he replied to his dad.

"Nothing troubling you? The classes aren't too hard for you are they?" asked Mr. Egbert to his son, of course he wasn't going to outright state the obvious problem but poking at it was something.

"Not at all! Karkat has been great help in science and Dave's been..." trailed John, his eyes lowered as he thought of what to say, "Dave's been amazing help..."

Dave has always been his go-to man for help with homework and projects, he was smarter than he let on. Of course the real reason for that is still unknown, all Dave had to comment on was, "Who knows when you might need it?"

"That's good. I'm glad that David has been there to help you; he's such a good friend for my Johnathan," smiled Mr. Egbert, "Don't let a friend like that go, okay."

John nodded as he felt his dad's hand ruffle his hair before standing up to go back in the kitchen. Blue eyes looked at the empty seat next to him and sighed, his dad was right; letting Dave go off like that was literally crumbling his whole world apart.

As he shifted his his seat, the plate resting him his lap moved reminding John of its presence. He looked down at the "snack" his father gave him, his breath getting caught in his throat as he saw what was decorated on it. A red base with Dave's disc on top just like Dave's favorite shirt. He stared down at it and closed his eyes; maybe his dad could help him.

Bringing a hand up, a finger swept through the red, black, and white frosting splitting the disc in half diagonally. He brought his finger to his mouth, sucking the sweet substance off his finger as he stared down at the broken disc. A few memories ran through his mind as he mumbled.

"Thank you, Dave."


	29. The Best Friend, Broken

Today is a particular for two certain people. The birth of Dave Strider. Many memories have been recorded on this memorable day, a bond two friends have threaded and molded together; certainly the tradition will carry on. After all, they are friends.

John walked into his fourth hour class, fumbling with his phone as he stared at the date that was poking fun at him the moment it struck midnight. He took his seat and glanced at the time, setting his phone down and unzipping his backpack. A neatly wrapped box sat atop of his things, the red contrasting against the papers and books.

The box was a gift for Dave, after all it is his birthday. Giving it to Dave was another question though. They haven't spoken in two months, haven't seen each other for more than a few seconds at a time, they haven't even been in the same room!

"Hi John."

Blue eyes flicked upwards to see Aradia standing there, a big smile on her face. She was always the adventurous one, especially when confronting people and poking at the subject at hand. Aradia, unlike her sister, was very friendly and open to everyone.

"Hi Aradia." smiled John.

"What you got there?" she asked him.

"Oh uhh- just a gift."

"For who?"

He looked up at her with a weak smile, "Dave."

It was silly to get Dave a preset when they don't even see each other anymore, but he couldn't stop himself from doing so. Ever since they met at that soccer game, since Dave sent him that first gift and he to Dave, it's become a sort of natural habit. What was inside the box...Is something Dave probably would find ironic but-

"He doesn't eat lunch in the cafeteria anymore does he?" questioned Aradia, "He goes off with that Jade girl."

"I know." His heart felt a pang.

"Oh you can try afterschool. I see them in the cafeteria then, they're usually doing homework or whatever."

"Really?" asked John perking up.

"Yeah! I stay afterschool often and they're always there." she told him.

Maybe there was a chance.

"I'm telling you John, I don't like how Jade is hogging Dave." said Karkat grumbling as he ate.

"W-Well she isn't hogging him, she's just hanging out with him." replied John.

"Oh yeah, suuuure! Taking him away from you, being at his side all fucking day, and not even allowing him to spent more than two minutes with you to the point where you two are now complete strangers to each other. That sure isn't hogging him."

"She lived on an island, Karkat, I'm sure this is all because she likes having friends."

The blond squinted his red eyes at the other, brain not comprehending John's thought process in the slightest. What could he not see in Jade that made her irritable!? Sure she had a cute face and her eyes sparkled when she spoke, it's annoying how positive she is, the little jump in her step was adorable- Karkat mentally slapped himself and paid his attention back to John. This little fucktart.

"Look just shut up. Jade is bad news," said Karkat, "Plus you saw him first."

John sighed as he ate his lunch; Jade meant no harm, she's having fun and she's happy, why would he want to ruin a girl's happiness. He looked over sat Karkat who was being mothered by Kanaya against his protests which fell useless. Karkat was right about a lot of things lately, but certainly he couldn't be right about this.

The seat next to him sat empty, a tense feeling was in its place. No one dared sit next to John with that seat, only because they had their own friends to sit with but because some knew how connected the two were and severing it over washed them with guilt. Not seeing the albino with him was a strange sight, even after two months.

The buses were clear of the school, people settling down in their respective areas of the after hours of the school day. A few kids hung out in the hall quietly, a few others assisting teachers; John was in front of the library trying to gather enough confidence to actually walk into the cafeteria to give Dave his present, even if it's just to give him his present it'd really reassure him that they were still...Friends.

His heart ached.

After calming the churning of his stomach and silencing the doubts in his head, he took a step forward and made his way to the cafeteria steadily. He took in deep breaths to clear his mind as his paces slowed nearing the cafeteria. I can do this, he thought to himself, I just need to give it to him.

The cafeteria doors were open and he braced for the best, a soft smile curling up on his face. But it soon faltered as he heard Jade's voice.

"I really like you Dave." said Jade.

"Yeah, yeah, you're fun to hang out with." replied Dave.

"No I mean- I like, like you Dave...I love you, please go out with me."

John could feel his heart stop as he heard what Jade had said, he peeked into the cafeteria and saw Jade prompted up, leaning towards Dave with her eyes closed and lips perked; Dave stood staring down at her with no reaction in the time John had looked. That was all it took to let him know. That was all it took to give him the biggest reality check of his life.

The red box fell to the ground as white converses ran off, a burning sensation pricked at his blue eyes as he ran out of the school and back home.

In all the while Dave had turned away from Jade, eyebrows scrunched together as he held a hand up. Jade had opened her eyes and looked at Dave, her head tilting as her face was slowly flushing pink.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't. I'm sorry," said Dave, "You're a cool girl, but my heart is captured by someone else."

He stared up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath before looking back down at Jade, "No hard feelings I hope."

Her lips were parted as she smiled, "I'm sorry too, I guess I got carried away. Jake had always said I do."

"Nah, you do what you do, don't let anyone stop you." he told her.

She nodded, "...I'll be with some friends tomorrow morning so...You can go..Back."

"Have fun."

Jade nodded and perked up, running over to her bag, "I was going to ask if you want to have a joint birthday party with Rose and I since today is your birthday."

"Oh..." trailed Dave, he had completely forgotten it was his birthday. John usually is the one to tell him Happy Birthday, "Yeah- my birthday, right...I have to decline, thanks though. Just tell Dirk to send the gifts to my place. I need to see someone."

Jade nodded and handed him a small box wrapped in green paper; Dave took it and nodded, thanking her. The two shuffled around, getting their things packed. Dave was the first one done, getting up and saying goodbye to Jade as he walked off.

As he walked out of the cafeteria, he stepped on something. It was a gift wrapped in red paper with black and white ribbons; Dave scrunched his eyebrows together and picked it up. John's handwriting was on the attached card. The blond's breath was caught in his throat; when did John come around here? Why was this left here? Why did he leave? What did he-

"Oh you're still here Dave." said Jade exiting the cafeteria.

"Hey..." trailed Dave holding the box with trembling hands, "I want the joint party after all."

"But-"

"He's busy. Don't worry..." he said taking in a deep breath, "I don't think he wants to see me anyways."


	30. I Don't-

Why do things loose their light? Is it because the darkness overpowered the good? Or is it because there is no use for life anymore...Most of the time it's because something inside had died. That goes for John Egbert, living in the shell of what he calls a body. There was no longer a shining light sparkling in his eyes, his smiles meant nothing, and his enthusiastic personality has diminished. He was like a living corpse.

Ever since Dave's birthday his spirit had leveled down to nothing, he didn't speak in class nor did he eat at lunch, gym was too much for him to do, classes were just blurred timeframe, he listlessly did group activities with his friends. John just honestly didn't feel like doing anything with his life anymore, but Karkat had dragged the boy back to his place to have a talk with him whether he wanted it or not.

Sitting John down on his bed, he pulled up a chair to sit in front of him, arms crossed against his chest and a disappointed look on his face. It wasn't so much that he was mad at John, no he couldn't blame John for what had happened, he was more disappointed at Dave and the fact that John had kept this from him for an entire week. The blond sighed as he uncrossed his arms.

"John, I'm not mad." said Karkat.

"I know." muttered John.

"Then stop looking so pathetic."

"But aren't you sad too?" asked John.

"What for?" questioned Karkat.

"You liked Jade, didn't you?"

Karkat's face lit up in embarrassment as he retorted back to John's accusation, "No! I didn't! And I don't! Whatever made you think that?! It's ridiculous!"

John smiled softly as he looked up at Karkat. What Karkat lacked was his own self awareness in the genre of romance, which is ironic because he always meddles in other people's love life...Irony.

His eyes softened as he looked back to the floor, smile dropping back to a small frown. His fingers fumbled with each other as he took in deep breaths to calm himself down; why did Dave effect him so much? Why did all of this have to happen to him? He did nothing wrong.

Images of Dave faded into his mind making John's face scrunch up as they were replaced by images of Dave and Jade together. His chest began to ache, breathing shortening as he held into his legs for support. Why was it now when he figured something out? Why didn't he realize it sooner? Karkat was right, he's always right.

"It shouldn't matter whether I tell you if I have friends over or not Kankri, they don't-"

"If I am not notified about their arrival how am I suppose to get the house prepared as to make sure they feel comfortable?" said Kankri staring down at his brother.

"They don't care whether or not-"

Karkat was interrupted by a small hic from John. He and Kankri turned to look at John who was trembling on the bed; you didn't need to see his face to know he was on the verge of tears. The younger Vantas looked back up at his brother an stuck his tongue out before moving over to John.

"Hey, John." Karkat said as soft as he could.

All the blond could hear was soft mumbling from him. "What?"

"I didn't do anything wrong!" exclaimed John looking up at Karkat with tears streaming down his face, "I didn't...I didn't do anything g wrong so why is this happening to me!?"

"J-John calm down."

"I don't want to blame anybody, I don't want to hate anybody but my mind is telling me that this is all Jade's fault. If only she didn't come here I would have Dave all to myself."

Kankri sighed and walked over to Karkat, asking him if he could step out for a few minutes. His brother stared up at him before doing what he was asked. The older Vantas sat next to John in Karkat's place.

"Now John, I want you to take slow, deep breaths and talk only when you feel ready to do so." said Kankri.

John hiccuped and held onto himself as he started to calm himself down, a small whine of a sob escaped ever so often. He wanted his Dad, he wanted to be in his room, he wants all of this to never happen. His mind was telling him Jade was the cause of all of this, to despise her. His mind was telling him if he never met Dave, all of this wouldn't have happened and he would live a happy life. His mind was telling him...That he was in love with Dave Strider.

While Kankri and John were having a one on one talk, Karkat had hopped on his bike and pedaled his way over to Kanaya's place. There was no way in hell Karkat was going to let this slide, as rude and inconsiderate he may seem he was actually quite a nice person. He would stop at nothing to make sure his friends were okay.

13 minutes later the blond jumped off of his bike when he was in the driveway of the house, marching up to the door and ringing the doorbell. He tapped his foot as he waited, Kanaya finally opening the door to an angry Karkat.

"Oh, you did not inform me that you were coming over." she said.

"It's an important matter," said Karkat, "Where's that flower girl?"

"You mean Rose? She's in her room."

"Go get her, I need to talk to her."

The tanned girl let Karkat in before going to get Rose. She peeked in the room and told her Karkat wanted to talk to her; Rose arched a brow and set her book down, walking into the living room with Kanaya. She greeted Karkat and sat down on the couch across from him.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Rose.

"You're going to talk to the Dog Girl and tell her to break it off with Dave." he said.

The blonde blinked a few times before looking over at Kanaya in confusion, "Jade you mean."

"Yeah, her."

"Well I'm sorry to say that Jade and Dave have not formed a romantic relationship."

It was Karkat's turn to blink in confusion, lips parting as he was trying to come up with something to say. Dave wasn't dating Jade? Then what John saw was a misunderstanding, but how is he going to convince him? People only believe what they see. He looked at Rose.

"Then you're going to help me get John and Dave back together." he said.

Rose smiled, "I did not know they were dating."

"They're not, but at this rate they'll never be."

"Well, shall we work to get your brother and John back as friends?" smiled Kanaya.

"Let's give them a small push," mused Rose, "I'm tired of waiting for my brother to make a move."


	31. Dave

It was the day before Winter Break started; Karkat, Rose, Kanaya, and Jade had all come up with a plan to get Dave to explain the misunderstanding to John. Jade was torn when she heard the news from Rose and wanted to apologize to John but was interrupted by Karkat saying it was best if Dave said something to John first. After explaining briefly to Dave what their plan was, he agreed; he wanted to fix what was broken between John and him as soon as possible.

The plan was to meet after school so they wouldn't get interrupted by other people. Dave would explain what happened between Jade and him, confirming that they didn't get together. Hopefully John would understand and the duo will be back to being best friends.

"I hope this works." said Karkat to Rose in their last hour of class.

"I'm sure it will. Dave wants this to work too, he'll do his best to rekindle what he had with John." replied Rose.

"He better."

Dave was currently sitting in his desk, tapping on the top as he watched the clock tick away. This was his chance to tell John he was sorry and that they were still best bros, that he didn't go steady with Jade and everything was okay now. He wanted this to work. He needed this to work. Life without John, his walking safe haven, was like life without air.

Jade watched Dave with a sad expression. All of this was her fault. If she didn't get too attached to Dave all of this would have never happened; if she didn't fool herself into thinking she was in love with Dave, she wouldn't have asked him out and John wouldn't have seen. Her lips pursed together as she sighed softly, things needed to go back to normal with Dave and John. It's for the best. Knowing that she was the cause of this breaks her heart. She didn't mean to.

The bell rang, causing Dave to shoot up from his chair. He packed his things quickly and made a dash to their meet up place. He wasn't mentally ready yet, but he needed to do this. His heart pounded from worry as he neared the place he needed to be; John wouldn't be here for another 10 minutes, but that was fine.

Karkat went to go get John, telling him that there was someone that needed to talk to him. John asked who it was with Karkat replying that it didn't matter. He pulled him along around the school meeting up with Rose, Kanaya, and Jade much to John's displeasure. Karkat stopped and spoke to them while John stood awkwardly in the background wondering who it was that needed to talk to him.

"Uhm, Karkat? Who's the person that needed to talk to me? I don't want to keep them waiting." said John pulling at the bottom of his shirt.

"Oh- right." said Karkat, feigning forgetfulness, "The person is in room B413."

The bespectacled teen blinked and waited a few seconds before realizing Karkat wasn't going to take him there. He quietly thanked the blond and turned to walk to the designated room with his heart pounding; who was it that needed to talk to him? With his fingers pulling at the bottom of his shirt, he thought through the list of people he knew.

"I haven't spoken to Vriska for awhile...Though I don't know why she'd want to talk to me," he said to himself, "I haven't spoken to Terezi much either..."

John neared the open door, cautiously stepping in. He took a looked around, his breath hitching. It wasn't Vriska, or Terezi, or any of his other classmates. It was Dave. He froze in his place when he saw his friend turn around; the shades John got for Dave when they became friends reflected him off of the black lenses.

"John." said Dave.

It's been so long since he's heard his name from that voice.

The albino took a step forward, taking in a deep breath as he went over one last time on what he wanted to say. As he did so, he could see John's hesitation. It's been so long since they've been alone together. Their bond holding onto a single red thread ready to snap any second. His hands clenched together as he opened his mouth to talk.

"Dave."

He was interrupted by John, who stared right at him with eyes he's ever seen before. Blue waves swirled in his eyes conflicted and afraid, afraid of something that wasn't there. The once shimmering eyes were now hardened by months of abandonment and betrayal; eyebrows scrunched ever so slightly showing discomfort. The blue eyed teen's stature was stiff and straight, unlike the happy, cautious but carefree boy he grew up with.

"Yeah?" Dave replied.

"I think..." trailed John, "I don't think...Friends are suppose to be as touchy as we used to be."

Red eyes blinked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I've thought about this for a while, but don't you find it kind of embarrassing? Touching your friend so intimately and giving them kisses? Friends aren't suppose to be like that...Like lovers."

"Embarrassing? What do you mean embarrassing? Parents do that to their kids too to show them that they care. You don't have to be dating to show a person you enjoy hanging out with that you care about them."

"But we're both guys Dave. And besides, it kinda feels weird to be treated as someone's lover when I'm really not," said John rubbing his arm, "So could you please stop it?"

Dave stared at him in disbelief, he couldn't understand what John was saying. Stop? Stop showing him affection? How can he just stop? How can John ask him to stop after they've literally been this way for 5 years? What suddenly made him decide this?

"What do you mean stop? We've been like this for so fucking long! And you're just asking me to stop now?! You could have said something from the start!" exclaimed Dave.

"That's not it Dave, we were still pretty young and it was...I don't know, I didn't find anything wrong with it-"

stop.

"So now that you're all grown up you decide that our friendship is wrong?"

"No! I'm not implying that!" exclaimed John.

Stop.

"Then what are you implying?" panted Dave.

John took in a deep breath, "It's embarrassing to just...Be around you sometimes."

LIAR.

"..."

A smile forced its way onto Dave's face, lips twitching trying to control it. A hand rose up to press against his forehead as he softly laughed. Embarrassing? He was embarrassing? John, the kid who never mind what he did as long as they both had a good laugh. John, the kid who watches the most awful movies and plays the most weirdest pranks. John, the kid who had that big, dorky grin with his buck teeth and big, black rimmed glasses.

John Egbert. The kid Dave Strider fell in love with.

"You think I'm embarrassing?" questioned Dave.

John stared at his friend, fingers trembling as he froze in place. What happened to Dave? Why was he laughing? All he wanted was Dave to tone down the friendly actions. Why did he say that? Why was he talking at all? This wasn't what he wanted, why didn't he let Dave talk first?

"Yes."  
No.  
Snap.

"Me? Embarrassing?" said Dave, "You don't know ANYTHING about what being embarrassed is even like! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO LIVE LIFE WITH THESE!? DO YOU JOHN!"

A pair of shades were thrown onto the ground, cracking the black lenses. Bleeding red eyes shot into the blue abyss of John's eyes, engraving itself into the teen's memory. John's voice caught in his throat as he stared into the pits of Dave's red eyes which startled him. This has to be a prank right? That's why Dave was laughing right?...Those...Tears aren't real...Right?

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE POKED AT AND PUSHED FOR SOMETHING YOU CAN'T CONTROL!? DO YOU KNOW THE FEELING OF HATING YOURSELF TO THE POINT THAT YOU HAVE TO BE SOMEONE ELSE TO KEEP ON LIVING?" exclaimed Dave, face reddening from anger and tears, "WHO'D WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH A FREAK OF NATURE! THE KID WITH THE RED EYES. BETTER YET! WHO'D WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH THE QUEER KID?! WOULDN'T THAT BE DISGUSTING?!"

Dave stared down at the ground trembling, his anger and emotions swelling up inside of him. His breathing was shaky as he tried to calm himself down, but the words and memories got to him. It wasn't easy going through life knowing that it was something as small as a pair of eyes to push everyone away from you.

"I knew it was too good to be true." muttered Dave as he grabbed his backpack and ran past John out of the room, breaking the pair of shades the boy had gotten him so long ago. The albino ran out of the school out into the cold, snowy streets to get back home; he didn't care about anything at that point.

Back in the school, John stared down at the broken shades. He slowly walked over and picked up the pieces of his now severed friendship with Dave. His face cringed up as he felt warm tears start to brim his eyes, a small hiccup escaped his lips.

"I didn't mean to."


	32. Forget it

It's been a week since Winter Break ended and school started back up. People around John didn't speak to him and avoided his presence as often as they could, something about him was different, uncomfortable. No one has seen Dave since that day before break either. He never showed up at school the past week, there wasn't a word from his guardian, no one knew where he lived.

Except John.

What happened the day before break scarred the blackette, he didn't speak about what happened between him and Dave. Karkat tried to pry it out of him, but it was no use. John wasn't going to talk, he didn't want to remember but those blood red eyes didn't seem to want to disappear from his mind. The eyes that he longed to see. The eyes that showed his best friend's true colors. Emotions. Thoughts. The real Dave.

Karkat and John were sitting in the Egbert's living room, the blond insisting that he should come over for a change of scenery. They were alone in the house as Mr. Egbert was out leaving the two vulnerable to conversations they wanted to avoid. Red eyes looked over at the other, looking over him as he thought of how to strike the conversation to get answers. Should he be blunt? Should he gradually move onto that topic? He never was good with these kinds of things.

"Karkat."

The Norwegian looked up at the other with a questioning look, "What?"

"How do you feel about your eyes?" asked John

"...My eyes?"

John looked over at Karkat and nodded, maybe he could understand Dave better if he knew what it was like to have red eyes. Who better than to ask Karkat. He gave a small smile as to not look too suspicious.

"They're my eyes, what am I suppose to feel about them?" questioned Karkat.

"Well...They're red right," said John, "How was it like growing up?"

These questions were oddly personal for John to ask. Karkat sighed but thought back to his childhood; he doesn't remember much if he were to be honest. All memories concerning his childhood was filled with his older brother and dad, there were only a few friends here and there but they were long gone. Though there were a few instances that he could remember of other kids teasing and bullying him.

"It was okay I guess," he said, "I can't remember a lot honestly. I don't even care."

"But you don't wear anything to hide your eyes, I would expect a bit of...Bullying." said John fiddling with his fingers.

"Why are you asking? You've never been interested in my eyes at all."

That's true. Why was John so invested in Dave's eyes when Karkat's eyes are also red, it shouldn't have shaken him so badly like it did. They were just eyes, the color doesn't matter.

"I guess it's just something I've noticed, I never wanted to ask before because I thought I might offend you if I did." said John.

"What's the real reason John?" asked Karkat.

"What?"

"What's the real reason you asked about my eyes? Out of all the sudden questions you could have asked me you chose my eyes. Why?"

This was Karkat's chance to get an answer from John about Dave. Eyes, it had something to do with his red eyes. What did eyes have to do with Dave though? Dave surely wasn't blind, maybe he was colorblind, but why would something like that shake John up so much. It had to be something bigger.

"J-Just curiosity." replied John.

Asking Karkat wasn't much help after all, though he didn't much specify completely so he wouldn't get himself caught. Why is asking for help so hard?

"Bullshit! Tell me John."

"It's nothing alright."

"John, tell me." said Karkat calming himself down, "What happened between you and Dave?"

"Just forget it! Forget it alright! Forget I even asked!" exclaimed John, shooting up to run up to his room.

Alone in the Egbert's living room, Karkat sat staring in the direction John ran off to. He sighed as he sat back against the couch; so much for getting answers from John, though he had a lead. He shot up when he heard the front door open, seeing Mr. Egbert walk in. Karkat had told that John went up to his room because he was feeling tired, he didn't want to leave the house unattended so he waited for him to get home. The blond was thanked for and left, getting his phone out when he reached his bike.

"Kanaya...Where does Dave live?"

Meanwhile back in the Egbert's residence, Mr. Egbert was cleaning up after the two boys. He took care of his son's papers and set them neatly on the table for John to get later. John didn't go up to take a nap, he knew his son well enough to know that John didn't take sudden naps like this; especially when he has friends over. The man went to the kitchen and got on his apron, taking out all of the colored icing and frosting he had in the kitchen.

It looks like John needed another push in the right direction.

(Sorry for skipping last week. I completely forgot to finish the second half of this chapter and to post. But lucky for all of you I have break Wed-Fri plus the weekend because of Thanksgiving and I'm planning to post all of the chapters during that week and end it there. Hopefully. )


	33. The present

Rose, Kanaya, Karkat, and Jade were standing in front of Dave's apartment complex, knocking on the door for the past 5 minutes trying to get in. Karkat was on his last nerve and was just about ready to attempt to kick down the door to get in; Kanaya was the only person keeping him from doing so. They had gotten the albino's address from Dirk and made their way over immediately. Rose had mentioned she had given Dave a birthday gift prior to this year that would really become useful, but she refused to say what it was.

"DAVE FUCKING STRIDER YOU ANSWER THIS DAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL VIOLATE EVERY SINGLE TRIGGER ON KANKRI'S LIST OF TRIGGERS." exclaimed Karkat furiously.

"Now Karkat, mind your volume, you're disturbing the neighbors," said Kanaya, "Getting kicked out is the upmost last thing we want."

"David Strider, open your door." said Rose.

"DAAAVEEE PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR! WE JUST WANNA TALK." said Jade knocking on the door.

"This boy is being so stubborn," sighed Rose, "We should have asked Dirk to come along with us if we knew it was going to be this difficult."

"He won't answer his phone, he won't answer the damn door." muttered Karkat.

"...Uhh, dudes?"

The four of them whipped their heads over to see who the extra voice belonged too, eyes landing on Dave standing in the hall with a few bags of groceries. Their attempts were useless the whole time as Dave wasn't home in the first place. Karkat completely broke, moving over to sit quietly against the wall as he rethought this whole plan.

"Dave!" exclaimed Jade, "We thought you were home and refused to open us the door."

"Well you thought wrong," blinked Dave, "Why? What's the matter? Something happen?"

"What's the matter!?" Karkat said shooting up from his spot reanimated, "We should be the ones asking questions here! Not you! Now open your door, I'm tired of standing out in the hall."

Dave went over and unlocked his door, walking in with everyone following after. His brother was no where to be seen, as usual, so everyone sat down in the living room waiting for the boy to place what he bought in the kitchen. Once the albino was in the kitchen, he set the bags down and sighed softly. Hands came up and gently took off the spiked anime shades he was currently wearing, he use to wear these all the time.

"Dave seemed...Normal." commented Jade.

"As if nothing had happened." added Kanaya.

"Bullshit, that's completely bullshit," said Karkat, "Something is up and I'm going to find out today."

"Now Karkat, remember why we're here. It is your plan after all." said Rose.

"So, what're you guys here for?" asked Dave as he walked back into the living room with his pointed shades back on his face.

Rose turned to look at her brother, eyes quickly analyzing his over all appearance. Her brother did indeed look perfectly fine; his hair was kept and his clothes were neat, he looks like he's still been eating, and his tone of voice remained the same. So why is John the one so badly hurt? Dave wouldn't dare.

"We're here to propose a plan," said Rose, "But only if you reveal to us what happened between you and John that hurt the two of you so horribly."

"Dave please tell us! John looks absolutely miserable and I hate it. I know it was my fault and I feel terrible, I want to help fix things. Please Dave." said Jade.

"You're going to tell us exactly what happened right here. " said Karkat.

Red eyes looked back and forth between the four, heart slowly picking up speed as he could hear their voices start to merge together before fading out to leave him alone with his self-consciousness. John. He hadn't thought of him in a while, at least- he's been successful of keeping his crush off of his mind.

"Stop it," said Dave, "Stop talking."

Rose arched a brow as she looked at her brother. There it was, the one piece of information she needed.

"Stop talking about John."

"I want to know what happened between you and John, Dave, " said Karkat looking straight at him, "Tell me."

"Why?" he asked, "What happened between me and him stays between me and him."

"But I'm quite curious as to the sudden change of look, Dave," said Rose, "I thought you didn't like your brother's anime shades."

His hands slowly closed as he avoided his sister's gaze. She was right, he didn't like them, but they were the only things he had after...

"I broke my old ones." said Dave.

"Why?" asked Rose.

"...Why? Can't I break my own things? It's mine after all."

"But John got them for you," quirked Rose, "And I quite clearly remember you boasting about them to me."

"People break things all the time."

"Not things they value."

"Do people not respect my privacy?"

"Sometimes people need to know." said Rose.

The albino stared at Rose and hardened his look on her; she was right. Sometimes people do need to know, and he just fucked everything up. He sighed and sat down, a hand resting on his forehead. What was he to do.

"Dave, tell us," said Kanaya, "We will be able to help you through your problem, we just need to know what happened."

Damn Kanaya was good a these things wasn't she, it was no wonder how she can keep Karkat in check most of the time, thought Dave.

"Alright..."

After telling the four what had happened, he stared down at his lap. What he did to John was awful but...What John did to him was just as awful as well. His hands clenched together as he took in a deep breath; he wasn't ready to go back to school and face John, could he even face John?

"You idiot," said Karkat, "You both are such idiots."

The blond looked straight at Dave with a deadpanned expression before his eyebrows scrunched up and he pointed at the albino exclaiming how stupid Dave was. This wasn't about his thing for getting Dave and John together anymore, this seriously was for both of their sake. Through everything he put them through, they stuck with him. Through every tantrum, every breakdown, every fanboy moments, and especially putting up with him shipping them together.

"Look here, you are going to use whatever Rose gave you for your birthday present to get John to forgive you and make up with you," said Karkat, "I don't care how long it takes the both of you to be friends again, you two are going to get back on good terms."

"I suppose you still have my gift from last year." said Rose.

"I do, I haven't opened it yet though." replied Dave looking over at her.

"Oh how sad it is to hear that, but it's good that you still have it. Go up and take a look, I'm sure you'll want to know."

Dave stood up and stretched his legs and arms, walking over to his room to go and find where he stuffed Rose's gift. He sighed softly as he searched around his room, getting back on good terms with John wasn't going to be easy. Is Karkat really willing to wait for them to be back on good terms? He smiled softly at the thought, looks like Karkat's the bridge that's holding to the two together.

"Found it." he said to himself as he sat on his bed with the still wrapped gift. Unwrapping the box, he peered in to see what was in it.

"Music sheets and...Another wrapped box."


	34. Piano

watch?v=kI-09zY3GPA  
Play this song when you get to the point in the story where it's used...Or not, whatever floats your boat.  
/oneofmymanycanonvoicesforDave- /singingwisemorelike)  
\-----

Soft footsteps echoed off the walls through the empty halls of Airess High, music sheets crinkling in pale hands. He needed to fix things between them; he couldn't take the strained tension that was brought between them just because he couldn't keep his hands off of John. He knew...He knows John isn't gay, but he kept on prying desperately onto him hoping for a miracle to happen. Look where that brought things.

Karkat had miraculously managed to convince John to meet up with "a person" again, it was a wonder how John could believe him after what happened back in December. Dave had to thank Karkat later for everything he's done for him and John.

"John..." he said softly.

He thought that this wouldn't interfere with their friendship. He had hoped that it was just a fling but he's 16! A fling doesn't last 9 fucking years! His eyes widened a fraction as he saw him...What was he to John now? Definitely no friend. Not anymore.

The two stood in front of each other in silence, air stilled as they made eye contact. Well, through Dave's eyes they do, John couldn't tell where Dave was looking through those dark pointed shades he used to wear before he ever met John. When things were just starting.

"John."

"Dave."

Their voices were weak, but they refused to show their guilt and sorrow. Dave looked down at his hands, the music sheets laid out a song he wanted John to play for him; if he'd even agree to do it. His red eyes glanced up at John who was fumbling with the hem of his shirt. John always did seem to need to hold something when he was nervous. It was a cute habit he had.

"Can you...Play this?" asked Dave as he handed over the pile of crinkled papers that were clutched between his hands.

Blue eyes looked at the sheets, hands reaching out slowly to grab them. He instinctively began to read the notes sprawled on the paper. There was no song title. Maybe this is one of Dave's songs, but why would he want John to play it? Usually his songs consisted of drums and beat boxing and...And...

"S...Sure...Dave." said John.

No movement was made between them for a solid minute before Dave took a deep breath in and stepped into the empty music classroom. Empty is an understatement because there, sitting in the center of the room, stood a sleek black piano. John's eyes widened with interest as he laid sight on it; Dave remembered that John plays the piano...

Fingers trailed over the black and white keys of the instrument, a soft note sung across the stilled room as a key was pressed down. Dave fidgeted next to the piano as he watched John admire his childhood hobby. How he allowed John slip away so easily...How he allowed to let himself slip away so easily.

"How do you want me to play this?" asked John.

The once pitched voice snapped Dave out of his trance as he looked at John who was now sitting down with the music sheets in place. How did he want this to be played out?

"Moderately Slow...If-If that makes sense." replied the blond. This song wasn't an original by him though, he'd get too emotional if he had John play an original by him for him.

There was a second pause before John nodded, placing his fingers on the designated keys. He counted softly before the song began. Dave listened carefully, the pace was perfect. He slowly walked behind John, staring down at his once best bro and current crush. The soft hum of the piano rang through the air as he prepared himself to sing; he took in a deep breath.

As the song progressed, thoughts zoomed through John's train of thoughts. He thought Dave hated him. What he did to Dave is unforgivable! He broke his heart in the worst way possible and pushed him to reveal one of his biggest anxiety triggers. Guilt loomed over him, but it wasn't until the sudden voice from Dave snapped him out of it.

"I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me. I still feel your touch in my dreams..."

What...What is this? Is Dave genuinely singing!? No rapping? No rambling, no beat boxing? And this song...He was too caught up in his thoughts to even realize how different it is from Dave's usual style of music. It wasn't even an original either-

"Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why, without you it's hard to survive.  
'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling, and every time we kiss, I swear I could fly.  
Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last.  
Need you by my side."

The dark haired male's cheeks began to redden. Even after all he said and made him reveal...Dave still loves him? Is this what he's trying to say? His breaths were shaky as he tried to focus more on the instrumental, but the words...Even if they're not his they were really getting at him.

"'Cause every time we touch, I feel the static and every time we kiss, I reach for the sky.  
Can't you feel my heart beat so...  
I can't let you go.  
Want you in my life."

Dave began to walk around the piano, eyes trying to avoid the figure sitting playing the instrumental for the song. He had a feeling doing this was a terrible idea, but he couldn't let go of John. 9 years of crushing and falling in love with him every waking day is not going to go to go away so quickly, and it's not going to go to waste...At least not yet.

" Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky. They wipe away tears that I cry.  
Whoa oh the good and the bad times, we've been through them all.  
You make me rise when I fall."

"They're already starting!" whispered Jade as she hurried down the hall as quietly as she could. Karkat, Rose and Kanaya followed the peppy girl down to the room where the two tense lovers were in at the moment. The four had helped Dave into going through with this and John into going to meet up with Dave. Karkat was especially happy this was working out so well.

"Dave has some amazing vocals Rose." commented Kanaya.

"If only he'd use them more for actual singing than rapping he may be going somewhere." said Rose as they approached the door.

" 'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling and every time we kiss, I swear I could fly.  
Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last.  
Need you by my side.  
'Cause every time we touch, I feel the static and every time we kiss, I reach for the sky.  
Can't you feel my heart beat so...  
I can't let you go.  
Want you in my life."

John's hands were now shaking as they played the notes that are written on the papers. It was becoming too much, his heart swelled as he listened to Dave; memories spewing from the back of his mind making a movie made up of clips of the happy moments they've had together. Some moments had obvious signs of romantic interest in which he wanted to slap himself in the face for not realizing it.

Dave was pacing back and forth behind John singing still. He was ready to make a dash out of the door once he was done, but his body had other plans for him. The albino walked up behind John and took a seat next to him facing the opposite wall instead of the piano. He hesitantly took off his shades and turned to face John, placing his hand on the bench on both sides of him to keep himself grounded on the spot. He wasn't backing out.

" 'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling and every time we kiss, I swear I could fly."

A shock of surprise went through Dave as John joined him in on those two lines of the song. Did it mean something? Or was he reading too much into it?

"Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last.  
Need you by my side.  
'Cause every time we touch, I feel the static and every time we kiss, I reach for the sky.  
Can't you feel my heart beat so...  
I can't let you go.  
Want you in my life."

There was a three second pause. And during those three seconds, John turned to look at Dave, making eye contact. A hand went to gently rest on top of Dave's. This next course of action changed everything.

John, with his fingers pressing down on the keys, moved in towards Dave and pecked his cheek.  
Dave's pale cheeks reddened as he stared at John with disbelief. Did he really...Did John really just kiss him on the cheek? His hand rose to caress the spot where the feeling of John's lips still tingled; John stayed quiet as he stared up at Dave.

"Dave..." said John softly, "I'm...I'm sorry for what I did...I didn't know about your eyes and it wasn't my place to even say that you were embarrassing me...It was inconsiderate of your feelings, especially since I know how things at home are for you."

"John.." trailed Dave.

"I was just so confused and I didn't understand anything. I was too embarrassed to ask my dad or anyone for the matter." continued John, "I feel so guilty for lashing out at you and...For causing this wreck in our friendship-"

"I forgive you John." interrupted Dave.

John looked up at Dave with surprise; Dave really forgives him? For what he's done. He pressed his lips together and tilted his head downwards. Dave's forgiveness was a relief, but he didn't feel like he deserved it.

Dave gently set his hand atop of John's as he cautiously leaned in to rest their foreheads together, "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I knew you weren't gay, and you told me repeatedly, yet I still went out of my way to show you that I love you-"

"But I was the one who never noticed!-"

"I am the one who should have never forced you into this."

The burning sensation of tears burnt behinds John's eyes as he stared up into the flames of what are Dave's eyes. Dave is taking the blame and responsibility for everything even though this is his fault entirely. John closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Dave; the blond widening his eyes as he was caught off guard.

"I want to be friends again."

Friends. The cursed word.

"We never stopped being friends dude." he said as his arms wrapped around John.

"We'll always stay friends."

A pair of red converse and black flats moved in sync together on the sidewalk; the two half siblings were walk home together in silence. Dave stared at the ground as Rose gazed at him. They had met up right after Dave and John had their moment together and parted ways, saying nothing as they immediately started their walk. Dave needed time to think; Rose needed time to analyze.

"Will you be happy as always staying friends?" asked Rose.

Dave glanced over at his sister, she always loves to get on her therapist mode when talking to him about such matters. He was kind of glad she was though, if she wasn't, he didn't know how he'd manage things on his own without being able to comfortably vent and get advice directly back. He pursed his lips as he thought back.

"Well David?"

He may never love another after John if he chose to try to get over him...There was a high chance that he'd only ever love John for as he could breath.

"Couldn't you tell?" he said with a slight pained laugh, "We'll always ironically stay friends."

Rose stared at her brother before sighing, a brief laugh escaping her lips after as she placed her hand on Dave's shoulder. This time it was she that needed to be the rock that held the bridge. She looked at the albino.

"Dave, you still have another gift to open and use," she said, "And I'm positive that will win the heart of your John if you know how to approach it."

"You sure about that?" questioned Dave, flickering his eyes over at her.

"I am...Trust me, this is something only you can do in your own way. Do it how Striders do it, yes." smiled Rose.

A small smile curled up on Dave's lips as he chuckled, his first real laugh in a very long time.

"Yeah...Striders gotta do what Striders gotta do."


	35. Cake

The following weekend John had decided to talk to his dad about a few things. He was still coming to terms with himself but he couldn't believe in himself, the confidence wasn't there. He was friends again with Dave, all of their friends hung out with each other, and things were slowly going back to how things use to be.

For a long while, he never thought of the possibility that he might like boys in that way. It was a thought he never needed to worry about- until three years into his friendship with Dave. John never caught it on when it started, but he did notice something. The first few months he took notice of the little things about Dave that he didn't notice before like how -

"Dad...Can I ask you something?" asked John as he peeked in the kitchen where his Dad stood in front of the counter.

"What is it, John?" answered Mr. Egbert.

"Let's sit down first, it might take a while."

The older Egbert arched a brow and set his icing tools down, taking off his apron before walking to the living room where his son sat on the sofa looking quite concerned. He sat next to his son and waited patiently for the other to start the conversation. He had a feeling he knew what this conversation is going to be about.

"You know how Dave and I have been friends for a long time now." said John.

"I do, you two are quite find of each other." replied Mr. Egbert.

"Yeah, we're always together and stuff...Remember that time when Dave didn't come over for a while."

"Yes John, I do."

"Some things were going on. His brother's...Friend's sister transferred to Airess and she spent a lot of time with him," said John staring down at his lap, "It's nice that Dave was helping her, but they were together all the time and I didn't want to be mean so I just- I don't know, let Dave go?"

His dad nodded and motioned for John to continue on with the story. He didn't get to listen to his little boy's school life a lot, so getting to hear about it, even if it's to help him discover who he was.

"Then right before winter break we got into this fight and it really made me upset, but I think it hurt Dave even more," said John recalling the moment, "I was just mad and frustrated over something stupid, but Dave...I hurt him in ways that I might never be able to forgive myself for. I never thought I could loose Dave because...Because he was mine and it would stay that way."

A small smile curled up on 's face as he listened, a hand going to gently pat his son's back.

"It's embarrassing how my friends were the ones to get me and Dave back as friends, but Dave just wouldn't come to school and I didn't want to make things worse by going over to his house," John sighed, "But I'm happy they did it though...Dave and I are friends again, but it might not go back to how it use to be."

"And why do you think that?" asked the older Egbert.

The blue eyed teen took in a deep breath as he held the bottom of his shirt. This was the moment he was debating on telling. What would his dad think of him? What would he do? What would he say?

"Because...Because we said things that changed our perspectives of each other." said John.

"But that helps you have a better understanding of each other." replied , "There are things people should know about each other in order to avoid conflicts, but each at their own time."

The older man stood up to walk to the kitchen, leaving the other sitting on the couch. He stood in the kitchen for a few seconds before walking over to the counter which laid a cake, it was covered in a multitude of colors with one word written on it.

Back in the living room, John sat back and sighed, hands coming to rub at his tired eyes. He couldn't do it after all. His lips pursed together as he stared up at the ceiling. The noise of his dad coming back into the room startled him, he sat back up and saw his dad sit next to him with a cake in his hand.

"To understand one another is to understand yourself," said as he held out the cake for his son, "Congratulations John, I'm so proud of you."

Blue eyes stared down at the rainbow themed cake, "Congratulations" written out in blue icing. He smiled as he look up at his dad, eyes starting to burn from the tears that were starting to form. His hands came up to rub at his eyes to prevent the tears from coming out.

"Thank you, Dad."


	36. Feels normal

It was now February, everything settled back into place after John and Dave had made up. They were back together like glue, and although Dave was now wearing his old pointed shades, he was his usual self again. Maybe a bit more at ease. As for John, he was beginning to become more confident in himself as a whole.

Currently, Rose and John were sitting in Honors English, they were working on an individual oral commentary speech on a book they had just finished reading. The blonde glanced up at John, a small smile on her features as she saw her brother's love interest back to his cheery self. Now that they were back on good terms, maybe her brother could finally make his move on the blackette. It's been far too long and she was losing her patience.

"John, you do know what day it is in a few days right." said Rose as she continued to write.

"Huh?" blinked John as he looked up, "...No...?"

"Really...John you really forgot the day, the most important day that's in February that almost everyone looks forward to."

"I guess, what is it?"

The girl stopped writing to take in a deep breath; the boy really was as dense as a brick wall. She looked up at John, "The 14th of February, John. Valentine's Day."

He took a second to process what she said before fidgeting a bit in his seat. Valentine's Day. The bespectacled teen usually paid no mind to that day because...Well he wasn't dating anyone. That day was usually spent with Dave, as always, but now that he looked back on it...

"O-Oh," he said, "That slipped my mind."

"Are you going to do anything?" asked Rose.

"...I don't know..."

John was currently with his dad at the store only because he wanted to pick out something for Dave. Giving the albino sweets is the last thing he would decide on. He walked down the aisles with his dad, looking around for anything Dave might like; of course Dave would like anything he gave him. But he wanted it to be special.

"Is there anything you want John?" asked .

"Oh- you don't have to get my anything. I'll buy it myself." said John.

The older Egbert smiled and nodded. Recently, he's seen great progress in his son. John's confidence has risen up, and with his newfound acceptance of his sexuality, he's beginning to become more bolder with the blond than before.

"Dad, I'll be back quick." said John as he walked off.

"Alright."

It was February 14th. Valentine's Day. Couples of Airess High went around lovestruck, gifts were exchanged as well as kisses, some people even got together but others got...You know. Valentine's Day was both magical and the worst of days for people alike. Valentine's Day a.k.a Single's Awareness Day. Or so, not so much for John this year.

He and Dave were both walking back to his place having a conversation about the movies they were releasing that year. They were having a small debate on which sequel movie was going to be better.

"I'm telling you John, - will be better." said Dave.

"No way! - is going to be so much better, you'll see." retorted John.

"How about we test that."

"Mh? How?"

"Let's go see them both together." said Dave staring right at John.

The blue eyed teen blinked as he process what Dave had just said, a light pink color tinting his cheeks. Dave had just asked him out on a date! Two dates! He couldn't just say no; one, because they were bros and seeing both sequels would definitely prove which one will be better, but two-John had just realized his sexuality and is almost done with the process of what Dave really is to him. A love interest.

"Bro?" quirked Dave as he arched a brow at the other.

"What? Oh- Yeah, yeah! Then I'll prove to you that - is better!" he perked up.

Dave rolled his eyes and laughed at the other. It was nice to be like this again; to be with John, laughing as they talked, to be friends again. He spoke with John until they got to his house, going up to his room to "start" on homework.

Soon after 4 hours later Dave had decided that it was time to head on home if he was going to make it before it got too dark outside. John walked him to the door, opening it to see the sky bleeding red fading off to orange then pink with soft shades of lavender and blue after. He smiled softly as he gazed at it for a while before looking down to face Dave. In his hand was the gift John had bought for Dave when he went to the store with his dad a few days ago.

"Man sometimes I don't wanna go home," said Dave, "I get so tired when I walk all the way home from here."

"That's why my dad offers to drive you home but you always refuse." said John rolling his eyes.

"Hey, exercise is good for you."

"Whatever...But before you go," trailed the blackette as he took in a deep breath before bringing his hand up revealing the gift he had bought for Dave, "Here..."

In his hand was a black rectangular box. The albino took it from his hand and opened it, eyes widening a fraction as he saw what was in it. It was a pair of new shades that looked similar to his old ones. His eyes flickered up to look at John who was avoiding his gaze.

"Shades." said Dave.

"Yeah..Uhh, I didn't know if you wanted a new pair but I got you it anyways. They're not Ben Stiller quality but if it adds anything I...Wore it a few times..." trailed John.

Dave couldn't help but grin, laughing soon after; John was just too cute.

"What's so funny?" asked John.

"You are." replied Dave as he slowly took off his pointed shades, revealing his red eyes that started everything. He blinked a few times, eyes getting adjusted to the new lighting and looked up at John to see John stare intently at him. Folding the temples of the pointed shades, he put on the ones John had just given him. "I love it."

John smiled, "Glad you do."

"Now for my gift." said Dave.

"Wh-" John started before he got cut off. Dave had leaned in and placed his lips softly against his in a kiss, pulling away a second later. He blinked as he looked up at the other who was smiling.

"See you tomorrow, John." said Dave as he turned to walk off, giving a short wave as he did so.

The astounded John stood there seeing Dave's figure walk off, a hand slowly raising up to touch his lips softly. The feeling was back, and he never thought he'd want more until now.


	37. Start Over

John was tiredly staring at the letter that was on his desk, blinking a few times to make sure he was seeing correctly. Grabbing his glasses, he walked over and read the letter that was addressed to him. Dave's hand writing was on the front along with a picture of himself badly drawn; John couldn't help but giggle at that.

After getting dressed, he opened the letter to read what it said,

"yo john

i snuck into your room through your window and placed this letter on your desk for you to see lock your windows when you sleep man you never know when a batshit crazy clown is going to climb through your window and leave you a message  
and ill be here saying i told you dude lock your windows when you sleep  
okay not really your dad let me in but then I snuck into your room and left you this letter but who knows maybe you dont lock your window when you sleep i should try it sometime

anyway this is the first letter for the hunt im going to make you do.  
first clue crab"

"Crab?" said John confused as he stared at the letter, "Crab...Crab, Crab, Carb- Crab."

He held the letter as he went downstairs to eat breakfast, wondering what Dave could mean when he said crab. Was Dave at a market? Is he allergic to crabs? Is that his favorite animal? The questions are...Not really endless but there. John grabbed a small breakfast and went into the living room to put his shoes on.

"Maybe I should ask Karkat, it didn't say anything about having other people help me." he mused to himself as he went to get his bike.

Once at the blond's place, he knocked on the door. Kankri opened it and gave John a good morning and went to get Karkat. He waited a minute before his friend came out and handed him a letter.

"Oh-"

"Just take the dumb letter. You don't know how annoying Dave was this morning. He came at the ass crack of dawn just to tell me to give you this letter. Who the fuck does that?" he said as he rubbed his eyes.

John opened the next letter,

"i cant believe you figured that last one out though it was obvious enough dont let karkat see the last clue hell get a bit CRABBY  
hahah see what i did there  
you didnt get the first clue and thought karkat could help you huh  
anyway you can have people help you but they cant go with you  
this is special man heart to heart

next clue Rink"

"Hahah..." he trailed as he looked at the letter, "Thanks Karkat. Uhnm, do you know what this is all about?"

"He didn't tell me batshit about what this is about," replied Karkat, "It better had been worth it to wake me up so goddamn early."

"Right, well thanks again!"

The blond closed the door as John went over to his bike, racking his brain for what the second clue had meant. Rink. Rink. Rink...The more he thought about it the more weird the word sounded to him, never mind that though he had to figure this out. He got on his bike and went to bike around the block as he went to figure out what it meant.

"Rink. A Rink...The ice rink!" he exclaimed as he turned his bike around to bike into town towards the ice rink he had taken Dave for his birthday two years ago. This scavenger hunt was getting fun.

"glad you remembered this place it was fun going here to be honest even though i almost fell flat on my ass because of you  
but well since youre in town the next few will also be near because i really dont want to go through the effort to go to different towns just to put a damn clue there

next clue 5th  
hint flower"

John stared at the note reading it a few times over as he walked back to his bike resting upon the building of the ice rink. The ride into town had been quite tiring, but figuring out these puzzles Dave was leaving around was interesting; and it was quite cute. The blackette looked up into the sky to try to think of what Dave meant when he meant by 5th with flower as a hint. Getting on his bike, he went to bike around town to try to figure out the place Dave was luring him to.

"It's only the fourth clue and it's already so hard." he said to himself as he looked around town. Cars and buses passed him as he rode his bike, crossing the street as he traveled. He couldn't figure out what Dave meant by 5th, but with the flower hint he may have an idea as to what Dave was talking about.

"There's a flower shop somewhere here," he said, "It's a small one, but it should be...Right..."

Here. He stopped in front of a pretty baby blue shop decorated with flowers of all kinds in the windows. Walking inside, the person at the desk smiled and greeted him.

"Hello, uhnm- Did a person give you a letter early this morning?" asked John, "He had white-ish hair and he was wearing shades."

"Oh you must be John," she smiled, "Yes, it's right here. Seems like he's sending you on quite a journey huh."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "Don't know why though."

"He must have something up his sleeves, mischievous boys your age always find the most interesting ways to do things."

John opened the envelope and read the letter,

"you found the place where i bought your flower nice isnt it  
found it randomly  
its a small shop but they got good flowers

next clue first time we met flaming hot gay weeb and dat ass so good i forget my own name"

A choked laugh came from John as he went to cover his mouth. Dave could be brutally honest sometimes, but that was the truth wasn't it.

After about an hour and a half of searching over town he was at his final location. The stadium in which they first met all those years ago. John set his bike aside, staring at the letter as he slowly walked to the entrance, looking inside the door if it was okay to go inside; he saw someone motion him to come inside. Stepping in, he was greeted and was instructed to go to an area.

"Dave really knows how to do things." said John softly as he walked towards the bleachers of the playing field. Entering the lit field he saw Dave nearby. He smiled and walked up to him, startling the other in the process.

"Don't do that dude- you nearly gave me a heart attack." said Dave as he stared at him.

"Well sorry~ You sent me on like a 3 hour scavenger hunt." replied John.

"It could had taken at least 2."

"Whatever, but what's with this? You could have just asked me to come straight here."

Dave smiled softly, "Did you notice something about the places I made you go to?"

The bespectacled teen blinked and tilted his head, trying to make a connection of the places he's been to that day. They were the places he and Dave had gone to aside from a few exceptions.

"We both went to the places you sent me to." said John.

"Yeah, they are," said Dave, "They're very special places. Specially this one."

The albino flicked his eyes to the big screen which showed the both of them, then looked over to their group of friends on the other side of the stadium watching. After about 9, 10 whole years of knowing the other he was finally ready.

"John I want to start over." said Dave.

"...What?" questioned John.

"I want to start this whole thing over."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't want to be friends anymore," said Dave, "Because I love you...I want to be more than a friend, more than a best bro, more than anything I've considered us. I always asked myself, What did I do to deserve someone as great as you? You make me forget about all the sadness and pain, I feel so lucky to have you. You're always there by my side, you never think any less of me despite how I'm like. You listen to me ramble and laugh at my jokes, you do your best to be someone I would like to hang out with when in reality I've always liked you from the start. I'm always so amazed by the many times you leave me speechless by how beautiful you are. You give me reasons to keep myself together and I'm happy just to see you happy. You're the only one who makes me feel this way, the only one that can make me feel these things that are indescribable.

John, I love you. I love you so much; I'm infatuated with you. You're my everything and if I ever lost you, I lose myself."

John stood there overwhelmed with emotions, tears burning his eyes as he stared at Dave with wide eyes. His stomach was churning, burning inside of him as he tried to keep himself calm. This was the last thing he expected from Dave.

"So on this special day. The 6th anniversary of the day we met, I want this to be the anniversary of the day we become one," said Dave, "John, will you be my boyfriend? For me to love unconditionally and hold dear for as long as I am able to."

"Yes." That was all that came from John's lips as he went to wipe away the tears that wanted to spill. Dave walked over and hugged him, getting captured in the other's arms immediately.

"FUCKING KISS ALREADY! I DID NOT COME HERE TO SEE YOU TWO NOT KISS AFTER ALL OF THAT!"

John pulled back to look up, seeing all of their friends across the stadium. They were all watching...He looked up at Dave who was smiling.

"Well, we don't wanna disappoint the audience do we?" said Dave.

"No." said John smiling softly.

Dave reached up to slowly take off John's glasses; John cautiously did the same, making sure that the other was okay with it. Once their eyes met without the layer of glass in the way, their lips soon did the same sealing their fates together.

Today marks the end of a friendship, and the start of a blooming love.


End file.
